


Land of Agreement

by theshippingexpress



Category: Shall We Date?: Wizardess Heart+
Genre: F/M, Family Drama, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, Spoilers for Hugo's route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2019-10-12 10:55:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 25,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17466218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theshippingexpress/pseuds/theshippingexpress
Summary: Everything's going well for Hugo and Liz, until Hugo and Vain suddenly battle? Vain is left badly injured, and Hugo suddenly vanishes!





	1. Chapter 1

It was a beautiful day in Gedonelune, but I was in a foul mood.

“Nothing today?”

I plopped down next to my boyfriend with a sigh. He was kneeling in the garden, pulling at the weeds. “Not a thing. How hard can it be to find one Dragonkin?”

“Have patience,” he told me gently, rubbing my back. I was instantly at ease. “I know that you're worried, but we will find him, Liz.”

It was hard to believe that it had been a few weeks since Hugo and I had started dating, since the Magic Board Games, since we had stopped the fake queen; it felt like it had been a lifetime. But.. our enemy, Felix, had escaped in the chaos, and nobody had seen him since.

Every day, Hugo and I would trade off searching for him, asking our sources as we did our rounds; some days, we would go together. And yet there was still no answer. The thought that Felix was still out there had my stomach in knots.

“Let's not worry about him for now. Why don't you come inside? I fixed dinner for us.” Hugo helped me to my feet, and I took his hand. Together, we headed inside to his house; the house that we would someday share.

That's right. The future might be scary, but I knew I could face it if Hugo was by my side.

* * *

 

“Your cooking's gotten better.”

Hugo smiled as he sat down with me. “I've been practicing what you taught me.” Most of the time, I was the one who did the cooking, but Hugo was turning out to be a promising student. “It helps that there are so many plentiful ingredients here.”

“I noticed that! The garden's coming along quite nicely~” The little village we had dreamed of weeks ago was starting to blossom; seeing Hugo hard at work in his garden was a wonderful sight. “Perhaps I can help you with it this weekend.”

“You don't have any Prefect duties to tend to?”

“Not really. Alfonse and Caesar are supposed to come by to check on something, but other than that, I'm free. I even got permission from Headmaster Schuyler to stay with you for the weekend.”

“I'm so glad to hear that,” he said with a smile, and my heart raced.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. When I went to answer it, I saw Vain standing in the doorway, Mischa brushing up against his feet, and a chill swept down my spine. Was he here to ask about Felix?

“Hello, little bunny, I need to borrow Hugo for a little bit,” he said.

“If this is about Felix-”

“Don't worry about that,” he said. “This is a private matter.” I looked over, and Hugo's expression was smooth like a mask.

“Go ahead and keep eating, Liz,” Hugo told me gently. “I'll be back in a little bit.”

Mischa jumped up on the table as the pair left. “Don't worry, they'll be back soon.”

As I ate, my mind turned back to Vain. When I first met him, I thought that he was a jerk- I still did, somewhat- but.. Hugo had privately revealed to me that Vain was his older brother. It was hard not to think of him in a different light now. It was clear that there was still a lot about him that I didn't know.

By the time I finished eating and started washing up the dishes, they still hadn't returned. ' _What's taking them so long?'_

Suddenly, Mischa sat bolt upright. “Something's wrong. They're in danger.” A chill ran down my spine, and Mischa bolted out the door. I didn't have time to wonder; I went after her.

My heart was pounding as we ran deep into the forest. _'What's going on? Is Felix back? I need to get to Hugo-'_ A scream pierced the air, but that wasn't Hugo's voice-

“Vain!” He was knocked to the ground, and Mischa rushed to his side. He struggled to pull himself to his feet, and I saw that he was gripping his side, blood pouring between his fingertips. It was coming down his face too, from his hidden eye. But he was falling, falling, and I rushed to his side.

“Goddess of Time, get away from him!” Black lightning gathered in Hugo's hand. Had they been attacked? But I saw no one else around.

“Hugo, what's going on?” I asked. “Were you attacked?” Hugo was shaking-

“I can't.. I can't tell you, I just need you to trust me. Just come with me, Liz,” he said. “I will end all of this here and now.”

They had not been fighting an enemy, but each other. And Hugo didn't have a scratch on him, but Vain was injured, struggling to stay conscious, to stay alive- ' _Something is wrong here, it's all wrong-'_

Vain was a stranger to me, and Hugo was my beloved. But this didn't seem right. They annoyed each other to no end, but Hugo wouldn't do this, not the Hugo that I knew- how could everything have changed in an instant?

“Hugo,” I said with all the strength I could muster, “please stop this! I-I'm not going to let you hurt him! Please, just tell me what's wrong!”

I heard Vain begin to laugh. “Why don't you tell her, Hugo?” Vain said. “Why don't you tell her and save us all the trouble?”

Hugo lowered his hand; clarity flickered over his face, like he had just been doused in cold water. “Liz..” And then his expression smoothed out, and he sent a ball of light towards Vain. I braced myself for the impact, but all was silent. “I've stopped his time for now; that should seal his wounds.” When I looked over, Vain was still, his eyes closed as though he was asleep, but he was still alive. I had time- I had time to get him to Alfonse. But how could I?

“Hugo, I don't know what happened between you, but-”

Hugo knelt before me, taking my hands. “Liz, protecting you is my first and foremost priority, but I can't do it here,” he told me gently. “I need to go now.”

“No, you can't-”

“I'm sorry, Liz. I love you.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“I-I love you too.”

“Just.. please, be safe, all right?” All I could do was nod. And just like that, he was gone.

 


	2. Vain

My mind was still racing. Just a few hours ago, everything had been fine, we had been happy! And now Hugo was gone, and Vain was injured. How could everything fall apart so fast?

Mischa's cries broke me out of my thoughts. “Goddess! We need to get him to a doctor!”

' _ Right. I can't think about what happened. What can I do right now?' _

Alfonse. I had to get him to Alfonse. The rest could wait until later.

 

“We came as soon as we got your message! Is this him?”

It would've been impossible for me to carry Vain by myself, so I sent a magic note to Alfonse and Caesar. But the whole time that it took for them to arrive, my mind was in a whirl. Only Hugo and I had even known that Vain existed, but I couldn't just leave him out here alone, injured.

“I-I found him out here in the forest, injured, and I didn't know what to do,” I told them. “Hugo tried to help, but all he could do was freeze his time so his injuries wouldn't get worse.”

“Where is Hugo right now?” How could I answer that? Should I just say that he was gone?

“We need to get him out of here,” Alfonse said suddenly. “Then I can treat his wounds. Caesar, can you help me carry him?”

 

“I've treated his wounds; I think all he needs is a little rest now.”

“Thank you, Alfonse.” With nowhere else to go, we took him back to Hugo's house. I could sense that the others had a million and one questions for me, but, luckily, they did not press me. I told them that I would stay by his side until he woke up.

As soon as they were gone, Mischa jumped up onto the bed and curled up next to Vain. I wasn't sure what to think as I looked at them.

And I noticed that Vain's mask had gotten knocked off in the fight; it was the first time that I had seen him without it. “They really do look alike, don't they?”

“That was one of Vain's rules. If an enemy saw their connection, it could be used against them, so they had to wear the masks,” Mischa explained. My stomach churned at the thought.

“All of that was thrown out the window now then, I guess,” I said, and Mischa shook her head.

“It can't be helped,” she said gently. “Truth be told, I'm not sure what's going to happen after this. I just.. hope that he'll pull through this.” I could hear the worry in her voice, and my heart ached.

“He'll be all right; Alfonse took care of him,” I assured her, but even I wasn't sure. But the question still pulled at the back of my mind. “Mischa, do you know why they were fighting?”

Mischa was silent, her gaze going up to Vain. I had a thousand questions, but she couldn't answer. “I'm surprised,” I said at last, “that Vain could get hurt like this.” Hugo was strong, impossibly powerful, but.. what I'd seen of Vain's power had been terrifying.

“I don't think..” Mischa hesitated. “I don't think that Vain fought back. I don't think that he could. Not against Hugo.”

“What do you mean?”

“They may not seem like it, but they were actually pretty close. In the other time, it was always just the three of us, ever since the fall.” Hugo had mentioned that he remembered what

“What about their parents?” I asked.

“They haven't been in the picture for a long time. It was left up to Vain to raise Hugo. Practically still a child himself, but everything was on his shoulders. And with Hugo's powers.. Well, you understand why he'd worry. I don't think he ever stopped worrying.”

My heart ached for them. I knew what it was like to lose your parents, but I had my village to take care of me. I couldn't imagine what it would have been like to be all alone in that cruel future.

“What are you telling her, Mischa?” I jumped at the voice, and I looked up to meet Vain's eye.

“You're awake!”

“And alive, surprisingly.” His tone was callous. In the back of my mind, I noticed that his voice sounded different without the mask. Somewhat.. familiar. “After that fight, I thought Hugo would've wiped his hands of me.” No, that wasn't the Hugo that I knew. He wouldn't kill Vain.

“I.. I don't know what happened between you, but I don't think Hugo wanted you to die!” I told him. “He froze your time so that your wounds could be treated!” Vain fell silent, and I seized my chance. Maybe now I could finally get some answers. Maybe now I could understand- “What happened between you two? Perhaps I can help you-”

“What happened?” To my surprise, he laughed. “I guess I just told him something that he didn't want to hear.” Ugh! How could he stand to joke like that?

“This is no time to joke! Everyone worked really hard to save you! If they hadn't done that-”

“Everyone?” He stopped, glancing around, realizing where he was for the first time. His voice took on a strange tone. “Little bunny, where am I?”

“We took you to Hugo's house so that Alfonse could treat your wounds.” There was no other way, I told myself.

“Alfonse? This.. this isn't good,” he said, pulling himself to his feet. “The others can't see me. Nobody can see me here-”

“You can't leave!” I blocked the door. Standing before him, his presence was still as terrifying as it had been that first day I'd met him, but I couldn't let him leave. I raised my chin and told him, “You need to stay here and rest! What if your wounds reopen?” Even as he spoke, he was holding onto his side. I knew that he wouldn't be able to make it very far, and we'd never find him in the forest.

“You think that these wounds could stop me?” he sneered. “I'll simply rewind them.” But, when he raised his hand to the side, nothing happened. No spark of magic. Slowly, he raised his hand to under his bangs. I jumped as he let out a stream of curses. “What happened to my powers?”

“Y-you were really injured.” I shuddered at the memory of his injuries. “I think something happened to your eye.”

“I can't use magic like this,” he snarled, sitting down on the bed. “I can't do anything like this. I need my magic. Felix is still out there, and Hugo is.. Hugo is-”

There were still a lot of things to worry about. Felix's presence was always in the back of my mind, and I had no idea where Hugo could be. But we had to take this one problem at a time. “You're right, you can't do anything,” I said, and he glared at me. I went on, “Not right now anyway. That's why you need to focus on what you can do right now, and that's getting better. Besides, when was the last time that you slept in a real bed?”

He looked away, then he looked down at Mischa and sighed. “Perhaps.. I could stay here for a bit while I recover. It's not like I'm in any state to complete my mission right now anyway.”

“Good.” I relaxed; now I didn't have to worry about him running off into the woods, injured. He laid down again.

“..Why did you save me?” He kept his attention on Mischa, petting her as he spoke. “I've shown you no kindness, and Hugo and I were fighting. Besides, you still don't know the first thing about me.”

He wasn't wrong. All I knew was a little that I'd heard from Hugo and from Mischa, and I still didn't know why Hugo had attacked him. He was dangerous and powerful, and.. “I don't know,” I told him honestly. “There's still a lot that I don't know, honestly, and it doesn't seem right to act until I get the answer.”

“And if you don't like what you find?”

“Then I'll decide what to do then. Get some rest.” With that, I left.

I still had questions, but at least it seemed we had something of an understanding for now. I could work with that.

 

 


	3. Starting to Unravel

Alfonse came by the next day to check on Vain. Although I wanted to let the doctor do his business, I couldn't help but hover. I stood in the doorway, watching him.

“It seems like you've regained conciousness, that's good,” Alfonse said as he took a seat at Vain's side. He nodded. “May I ask your name?”

“..Vain.”

“I'm Alfonse Goldstein, and that's Liz,” Alfonse said warmly.

“I didn't get a chance to thank you for rescuing me. If I had been alone in the forest, I don't know what I would have done.”

“Don't thank me, I was just doing my job,” Alfonse said, as cheerful as ever. “Besides, I'm not the one who found you. Liz and Hugo found you, not me.” Vain's expression softened at Hugo's name, and my heart tightened.

Vain's gaze shifted to me. “Then I suppose I have you to thank, miss.” I nodded, unsure of what to say, but it would be easier to pretend I didn't know him.

“And, as for Hugo,” Alfonse went on as he started to examine Vain, “he's not here right now, but you can thank him when he gets back.” Vain was uncharacteristically quiet. “I'm sure he'll want to see his brother, after all.”

I stiffened at his words, and I wondered if I should speak up. Maybe if Vain didn't say anything, Alfonse would let it go-

“How did you know?”

“I know a thing or two about brothers,” Alfonse said gently. “Besides, the resemblance is unmistakable. Not to mention, I doubt Hugo would've gone so far for a complete stranger.”

Vain nodded. “He is my younger brother. I had heard that he was living in this area now, and I came by to see how he was doing. However, things fell apart, and I ended up injured..” Well, I suppose, it was close enough to the truth. “I believe I've heard of you as well; it's practically impossible not to have heard of the famous Goldstein family,” Vain said smoothly. “You are an older brother yourself, aren't you?” Alfonse nodded. “Then you can understand how worried I was. I am.. always worried.”

I decided to give the two of them some privacy. And whatever they discussed, they did not tell me, and I didn't ask.

 

The weekend passed. Vain was still recovering from his wounds, and there was still no sign of Hugo. I returned to my duties, but.. when someone asked me how my weekend had been, I didn't know how to answer.

 

A week had passed since the fight, and I was heading up to the village to check on Vain again. For a moment, I thought that he might have fled, but I saw a familiar figure standing in the path.

“Hello, Mischa!” I smiled as she brushed against my feet. “Is Vain still here? I brought him some food.” Mischa nodded, and I couldn't help but playfully add, “I'm surprised! I would've thought he would've tried to run away by now.”

“Oh, believe me, he's tried,” she said with a sigh. And I stopped as I heard someone else coming up the path, turning to face them. I felt Mischa go tense at my feet.

Klaus was standing in the middle of the path, looking at some sort of device in his hand, mumbling to himself. “No, that can't be right...”

“Hello, Klaus!” He looked up at me, startled. “What brings you here? Is there another mission from the Ministry?” In all of the chaos, I had forgotten about our missions for the Ministry.

“Ah, Liz. This is a.. delicate situation,” Klaus said; it was rare that I heard him so serious. “Do you know if there is some village up ahead?”

“As far as I know, the only place up ahead is Liz Village,” I answered.

He closed his eyes, running a hand through his hair and muttering in frustration. “Could it be- no, that would be impossible.” I tilted my head, feeling a chill run up my spine. “Liz, if I tell you, you cannot tell anyone about this.”

“On my word,” I said quickly.

He was quiet for a long minute, and then, at last, he said, “There have been reports of a suspicious figure lurking near the mines, and we believe it to be Felix. However..” He sighed. “An important figure in the Ministry has gone missing, and we cannot investigate without his permission.”

“Are you sure that he's not just taking a sick day or something?”

“He's not like that. There are times that he will go quiet for a few days, but never for this long. And this silence is rather.. abrupt. It's as though he's vanished off the face of the earth. The Ministry has sent me out in search of him.”

“So then that device in your hand can help you find him?” He nodded.

It just wasn't adding up. Klaus's device was pointing him in the direction of my village, but, as far as I knew, the only person currently in the village was-

And then things started making sense. I remembered a mysterious figure who never showed his face, almost as mysterious as the one currently crashing in my house. If they were one and the same..! To top it all off, I suddenly noticed Mischa was nowhere to be seen.

“What about you? Are you heading up to see Hugo?” I couldn't just lie to Klaus, but I'm fairly sure Vain would kill me if I gave away his secrets-

“No, Hugo's been away for a few days. On a mission of some sort,” I said, putting on my most serene smile. “But he was expecting some guest this weekend, so I was going to go ahead and get things ready.”

“Perhaps I could go with you then?” Klaus asked. “If we are headed the same way-”

“Only if you would help me carry these,” I said, gesturing to the bags in my arms. Normally, Hugo would've helped me carry things; I hadn't realized how much I relied on him.

Despite my instincts telling me to run into the house, Klaus and I made small talk as we came up the road and arrived at the village. He looked confused at the doors, but I took the bags from him.

“I need to go and unpack these. But feel free to have a look around the village!” I hurried into the house, setting down the bags. I heard voices from the other room, and I rushed inside- and stopped at what I saw inside.

Vain was up and about, pulling himself up to the windowsill- half of his body sticking out of the window. “What.. are you doing?”

“I need to return to the Ministry,” he said. “It is imperative that I get out of here before Klaus finds me.”

“So then, you are-”

“Obviously,” he snapped. “Now's not the time to discuss that.” As he tried to pull himself up, it was clear something wasn't working. He tried to pull himself through, but it seemed like he just couldn't make it through-

“Are you stuck?” The absolute silence told me that I had hit the nail on the head, and then I heard a knock on the door.

“Liz, are you in there?” Klaus called. “I would like to ask for your help-” Vain tried one more time to pull himself through the window- and landed in the other direction, falling flat on his butt.

I rushed to Vain's side; he was still quite injured. “Are you all right?” I asked, and only then realized that was a lot louder than I intended!

The door opened, and there stood Klaus. How was I gonna explain this one?

“Well,” Klaus said at last, “this is.. not quite the way I was expecting to meet, Thanatos.” Vain let out a snort at that. “But I have to ask, what are you doing here?”

“Klaus,” I blurted out, “I can explain-”

“I am recovering from a series of injuries,” Vain said, his voice suddenly calm. “Liz and Hugo found me in the forest and have been helping me recover.” He slowly got to his feet, and I was reminded of the terrifying figure I met back in Solomon. “I instructed Liz not to tell you as I was planning on heading back to the Ministry soon, but it appears that I am not as fully recovered as I thought.”

“This is all a bit much to take in. You got injured?”

“If you don't believe me,” Vain said curtly, “ask Alfonse. He'll verify my story.”

“I-I see.” For a moment, even Klaus looked like he didn't know what to say. “Well, sir, I came here to inquire about the-”

“Felix situation, yes,” Vain said. “You have my permission to investigate. As for me, I will return to the Ministry in a few days, when I have sufficiently recovered. Is that all?”

“I.. I suppose I'll be on my way then.” With that, Klaus shut the door and left. As soon as I could no longer hear his footsteps, I spun on Vain.

“You know, you could have given me a little warning that you were _Thanatos.”_

“I didn't expect it to come up, but I underestimated how long I had actually been gone.” He sounded awfully calm for someone who had, moments ago, been stuck in a window.

“This still doesn't make any sense. If you were Thanatos, how come Hugo didn't say anything?”

“Hugo didn't know,” he answered. “There's a lot that I haven't told Hugo- told anyone, really. In my experience, the less people know of you, the better.” I remembered Mischa's words about if their enemies found out. Of course it would make sense they were so guarded.

“Being so high up in the Ministry must've given you a great advantage,” I said at last.

“It allowed us to access a great deal of information. Key details on the Labyrinth.. We were also searching for the Star Sapphire, in case your friends were unable to reach it.” He let out a snort. “Though there would have been little that we could do if the young Baroque hadn't found the good doctor in time.”

It boggled my mind to think of how much he and Hugo must've been doing behind the scenes. All of the time that Mischa had traveled with us to break Caesar's curse- and Lucious's too- all the while, Vain and Hugo were running around trying to break their curses by any means necessary. “You really were trying to do anything to help, weren't you?”

“Indeed,” he said with a bittersweet smile, pressing a hand to his side, “and, in the end, it still lead me here.”

 


	4. The Reason

How long had it been? How long had it been since Hugo had left us all alone? As the next week passed, I found myself thinking of that night more and more, wondering where it had all gone wrong. 'If only I could go back to that night..' I thought. They called me the Goddess of Time, and yet I couldn't even access those powers when I wanted to. For them, it was as easy as breathing, and yet I could count on one hand how many times I'd been able to use it.

But if I had, I would've gone back to that night. I would've followed Hugo, I would've found out what happened. I would've tried to stop him-

Where were my powers when I needed them? Where was _Hugo_ when I needed him?

 

When I went back to the cabin to check on Vain, I heard soft voices coming from the other room. “-It's still not enough. I thought that we would have more time than this, but there are still so many things to do. Felix is still out there, and Hugo..” My heart ached as I listened to him.

“I'm scared for him too, but I don't know what we can do. Even if we could..” Mischa's voice faded off, and I stepped closer to the door to listen.

“Mischa, do you remember this? That was back when-” He suddenly stopped. “Goddess, if you are there, you can come in.”

I gingerly stepped into the room. Vain was standing at the desk, pouring over some kind of book; Mischa was sitting at the side of the desk, peering down at the pages. He beckoned me in, and I saw that it was a book of photos.

“We were just reminiscing over some old memories,” he said. “Come look.” Looking at the pages, my heart soared at the images of the younger Vain, Mischa, and Hugo, then a young child. The little Hugo had longer hair and a bright smile. I was surprised at how many photos there were. “This was from when we found a camera on one of our missions. Hugo was practically demanding we take pictures.”

“I seem to recall you enjoying taking pictures too, Vain,” Mischa said happily. “These might be the only pictures I've seen of Vain smiling.”

Vain flipped through the pages, telling me small stories of each picture. “I remember.. The first time after Hugo came to this time, my first mission in control, he used up almost all of his magic. He was asleep for days, and I took him immediately back to the future. I.. I thought he wouldn't wake up. When he did, I forbid him from going back. He just snuck out after me. 'You can't stop me from going on my mission', he said.” He let out a small chuckle. “If he hadn't been so determined, maybe I would've been the one to deliver you the prophecy.”

If Hugo had stayed behind, if we had never met- “I can't imagine..”

He flipped to the next page, and I couldn't take my eyes off. Vain was silent, but I could feel his gaze on me. “Is that..”

Vain was much younger in the picture, standing next to a woman with long, silver hair. The resemblance was unmistakable. “Is this-”

“Our mother,” he said. “This is the only photo that I have of her.” I remembered Mischa's words about how they had been on their own; my heart ached for them.

“Mischa told me about how you took care of Hugo,” I said at last. “I'm sorry you had to go through that; it's clear you care a great deal about him.”

All was quiet for a little while. And then I heard a strange sound, faint and unpleasant. In the back of my mind, it was familiar, but I could only cover my ears.

Vain asked, “What's wrong, little bunny?”

“There was this strange noise,” I told him. The sound was fading in and out, but I could hear his voice. “It was disturbing-”

“Would a story take your mind off of it?” It was an unusual offer, especially for Vain, but I nodded. He was quiet for a long time, closing his eyes; even Mischa was quiet.

“Once upon a time, as the world was tearing apart, a Dragonkin man and a human woman fell in love. As they hid from the world, they had a child. They managed to hide away for several years.

“And then one day.. there was a mighty battle. The Dragonkin man was killed in the battle, and the woman and her child just barely escaped with their lives- and not without help. A powerful woman, the leader of a nearby village, took pity on the pair and helped them to flee. However, the woman..” He opened his eyes, “the Goddess, sustained great injuries protecting them. She gave her life to save us.”

His words hit me hard; my chest felt tight. 'So this was my future,' I thought. This was what had become of me in the time that they came from. I had known that their lives were filled with tradegy- but to think-

But I listened to Vain's story. Something told me that I needed to hear this, that Vain needed to tell it. “Before the Goddess fell, she granted a gift to the woman and her child, the gift of her powers. A few months later, the woman had her second son, dying shortly after, leaving the elder child to raise the younger one.. And then they discovered that the second child had inherited the magic of time.” So that was how Hugo and Vain had come to have time magic.

“However, as Hugo grew, we discovered something strange. Perhaps it was because of the Goddess's gift, perhaps because of being born a Dragonkin, he could not recharge his magic alone.”

“He needed the power of love,” I said. I remembered the struggles he had gone through to be able to restore his magic.

“All time magic is powered by love,” he said. “Doesn't matter if its the love of your friends, romantic, or familial. The only difference was that Hugo could also borrow it from others.”

And I remembered the times that my own power had activated; I don't know why I had never realized it. It had been love for the friends who protected me- or love for Hugo, who fought at my side. At the time, my only thought had been protecting them.

“However, it was imperative that Hugo always be able to regain his magic. If he were to lose his magic completely, he'd-” He stopped himself, but I got the message loud and clear.

I felt sick to my stomach. I thought of how many times he hovered on the edge of losing magic, hovering on the edge of death, and I had never known. “Poor Hugo..” If just one thing had gone wrong.

“Liz, there's something else.” My stomach dropped as he met my eyes. “As our power is.. borrow, the power of love could restore our magic, but it would always be draining. Like trying to refill a glass with a hole in the bottom- and the hole is only growing bigger and bigger as the days pass.”

I couldn't understand, I didn't want to understand. “What are you saying?” My head was pounding, and suddenly it was like the sound was growing louder.

“With or without the power of love, we are losing our magic,” he said plainly.

Losing their magic faster by the day, and without their powers, Hugo would- “Does Hugo know?” I demanded. “Is that why he ran?”

“I kept it all a secret for so long, but I told him everything on that night,” he said. I thought of Hugo, finally able to see a future ahead of him, only to be denied it- “But I only told him when I believed I had finally found a solution. All we need to do is go back to the source.”

“You can save him?” I asked. That terrible sound was growing louder and louder, but now there was something else, something that I couldn't place-

“It has always been my duty to protect my brother. I will do anything to protect my brother. And so I gave myself a new mission, my most important mission of all-” Louder, louder, and then he was suddenly right in front of me, and my back pressed against the wall, and then I finally realized what the sound was- “to kill you.”

-The sound of bells.

 

 


	5. Return

“You have been kind to me, Goddess of Time,” Vain said. “I won't forget that. This will be painless.” He lifted his bangs and his eye began to glow-

“Get away from her!”

Black lightning rippled through the air, missing Vain by a hairsbreadth. And I saw him in the doorway, lightning crackling in his palm.

“Hugo!” After all this time, after all of the fear, he was here, he was alive-

“You're here!” I seized upon that single moment of hesitation to pull away, rushing to Hugo's side. He pulled me close, and nothing else seemed to matter. Not for all the waiting, not for all the fear, not for anything. “You came back to me.”

“I'm so sorry, Liz,” he told me, his hand curling in my hair. “I never should have left your side. I should have told you everything, but I was afraid-”

“Step aside, Hugo,” Vain growled, and a chill ran up my spine.

“I'm not going to let you hurt her!” Hugo pulled me behind him, hiding me.

“Your magic is running out faster by the day, but we can solve all of this in one step. Just let me protect you-”

“You have no right to make this choice for either of us,” Hugo said. “I will be the bearer of my own future, so leave us be!”

Vain hesitated for only a moment. He stepped forward- and a loud, hissing sound erupted.

“Get away from them!” Mischa roared; Vain stepped back. “Liz has shown you nothing but kindness, and this is how you repay her?”

“Mischa-”

“Listen to me,” Hugo said, stepping forward. “I have no intention of rolling over and dying. I've been searching for a way to stop the drain on our magic.” Hugo's voice was wavering. “We.. we just need more time.”

Vain stopped, and he was quiet for a long time. Then he sighed. “I only want what's best for you. Although I believed that I had found a way.. Perhaps I can allow you to search for your own.”

“You'll let us go?” I asked.

“For now,” he said. He walked past us with Hugo shielding me the entire time. “I've stayed in this place for too long. But if I see that my brother is in danger, I will interfere.” I nodded. I felt like I had heard those words before.. “Mischa, I need you to watch over them for me.”

“I will.”

And just like that, he was gone, and I nearly fell against Hugo in relief. “Thank you, Hugo. You saved me,” I told him. “If you hadn't been here..” I couldn't think about what had nearly happened.

“I never should have left you alone with him,” he told me, pulling me close. “I was just.. scared and overwhelmed. All the things he told me on that night.. About who we were, about my magic- and then what he was going to do..! I should have- I should have-”

“We can't think about that now,” I told him. But the question still burned in the back of my mind. “You said that you were looking for a way to fix your magic. What did you mind?”

He was silent, but his pained expression said it all.

“Okay, well.. we can work with this!” Over the past few weeks, I'd spent so much time in what-ifs, wondering why he left. But now that he was here, none of that seemed to matter any more. “Just.. stay with me. Promise me that you won't leave me again.”

“I promise,” he said. “Anything we do from now on, we'll do it together.”

 

For the first time in weeks, Hugo was by my side, but I didn't sleep any easier that night. I tossed and turned, and half bits of old memories came back to me. I dreamed of when I had helped Alfonse with a mysterious plague, and a silver-haired boy with a mask appeared before me..

' _ Two men search for the gift,'  _ he told me back then. ' _ One is the Goddess's servant, the other is her demise. Yet the two are joined at heart, believing the answer to lie in the Land of the Agreement.' _

__ Another time, he told me, ' _ The one who seeks to slay the Goddess will have battle with the Goddess's apostle and be greatly wounded. However, it is the Goddess who saved him. The man hides his station from the Goddess, waiting for the chance to take her life. Yet-' _

__ But the words faded from his lips, and I awoke, sitting bolt upright. The days of the Black Robe Plague felt like a lifetime ago, but how could I have forgotten? The prophecy had struck such fear in me back then, but it had slipped away from me. Perhaps it could've helped if I had known-

Because now it was clear that it was playing out before me. The two men, the battle, the attempt on my life. How fitting that the one I loved would be my Apostle, and the one we saved as my betrayer.

But no matter how I tried, I couldn't remember the last part of the prophecy, the part that still lay ahead of me. How did all of this end? Was Vain destined to-

“Hmm? Are you already awake?” Hugo sat up beside me, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. I leaned back against him. Oh, how nice it felt to have him beside me again..

Okay, I told myself, I could handle this. If nothing else, I could go right back to the source. But how do I approach it? ' _ Hey, do you remember that prophecy you scared me with when we first met? Do you think that could be the reason your brother's trying to kill me?' _ “Hugo, do you remember back when we first met?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“You told me a-a prophecy. About the Goddess and two men,” I said. “I just remembered it now- I don't know how I ever forgot it.” He was quiet, and there was something in his expression that I couldn't place. “Anyway, Hugo, I can only remember the first parts of it. But- I think it's becoming relevant again. Do you remember the last part?”

Silence. And then Hugo said slowly, “Liz, I love you, but.. what are you talking about?”

_ What?  _ “T-the prophecy!” I blurted out. “You know, 'two men search for the gift', all of that! That's- that's how we met-”

“I.. I don't remember that at all,” he said, confusion twisting his expression. How was it possible that he didn't remember? The power I'd felt from him then- he'd even forbidden me from speaking of it!

I took a deep breath. “What is the first time that you can remember meeting me?”

He sat in confusion for what felt like an eternity. “I.. I remember you asking my name, when I gave you the map to the Goldstein laboratory. I remember that Vain sent me on a mission before that, but I-I don't remember what it is. Why can't I remember?”

A pounding at the door interrupted my thoughts. I glanced out the window, seeing that it was still early morning, the sun barely rising. Who could be here that early in the morning?

“Liz! Liz, are you in there?” That was Caesar's voice, but why did he sound so pained? I heard other voices too, and I hurried to the door.

“That's it, I'm just going to bust the door down-” Now, that was definitely Zeus!

“No need, I'm here!” I threw open the door before Zeus could break it down. And to my surprise, I saw our group of friends standing outside. Zeus and Hiro, Caesar and Alfonse, even Lucious. And they were looking at me in horror.

“You're here- and Hugo too-” Caesar choked out.

“What's going on?” I asked, and they exchanged looks.

“Let's talk about this inside.” Hugo and I took a seat on the couch, and I instinctively curled up against him. Alfonse sat across from us, the others lingering around the room.

“Liz.. That man that we rescued, who was he?” I felt Hugo go tense at my side.

“Does it matter?” I asked with my best smile.

“I think it does,” Alfonse said. “Liz, Hugo, I don't know what happened, but you two need to get out of here- and fast. The Ministry has put out a warrant for your arrest.”

And I realized with a sudden chill what this was. What Vain had given us had not been a pardon, as I thought- only a headstart.

 


	6. The Library

“Liz, what's going on?”

How was I going to tell them about it? 'Oh, don't worry about it, it's just that Hugo's brother is trying to kill me.' Yeah, that was going to go over real well.

“I.. I'm not sure that I can explain right now,” I said at last.

“Don't worry,” Alfonse said gently. “Whatever happened, we trust you.” Tears sprang to my eyes as the others nodded. “But for right now, you need to get out of here; the Ministry is already on their way, looking for you.”

Everything was happening so fast. One minute, Hugo was finally by my side again, and now we were being told to run. The Ministry was after us. We'd have to flee the Academy, and who would come after us? Klaus at least, maybe more- maybe our friends-

“Don't worry,” Hugo said, “I'll watch over her; that is my priority.” I squeezed his hand. My heart was still racing, my mind going a million miles a minute, but as long as he was at my side, I felt a bit more at ease.

Suddenly, I heard a knocking at the door, and Alfonse immediately got to his feet, whispering to us, “I'll take care of this.”

“We need to get out of here now,” Hugo whispered to me. Okay, we needed to focus on a way out. With all luck, it would just be Klaus nearby, and we could sneak out the back.

“This way.” Hugo led me to the other room. “If the front door is blocked, the window might be the only way out.” How ironic.

“Let's hope we don't get stuck,” I muttered without thinking.

“What?” I just shook my head.

“It's a long story.”

“Whatever. Here, we need to get you out.” The window was a little high, so Hugo helped boost me up.

“Oh, hey, Klaus!” I heard Alfonse's laughter from the doorway. “Funny seeing you here! What brings you out here to Liz Village?”

“I am here on official Ministry business,” Klaus said curtly.

“If you're looking for Liz, she's not here. We came by to surprise her, since she's been feeling down the past couple days, but she wasn't here. Funny, huh?”

“I'm sure you know, Alfonse,” Klaus's voice was terse, “that the Ministry is on the lookout for Liz.” Was it just me- or did his voice sound a little pained? Klaus had been like a mentor to me for so long. And I doubt Vain had told him why he was supposed to be searching for me. “If you have any idea where she might be, it is imperative that you let us know-”

“I know, I know, Klaus! But, say, uh, do you know why they're looking for Liz?”

“..Get out of my way, Alfonse, I don't have time for this.”

I made it through the window. And Hugo was scooping up Mischa to pass her to me, but she stepped away. “Don't worry, I'll take care of him!” Before I could grab her, she darted off.

“-Mischa?” I heard Klaus say. “What are you doing here?”

“Just popping by,” Mischa said lightly. “Did something happen?” I heard Klaus sputtering, but I turned my attention back to Hugo, helping him through the window. And we ran like the wind, leaving everything behind.

 

Once we had made it a decent way into the forest, we stopped. There didn't seem to be anybody else around. I stopped, leaning against a tree for support.

“Okay,” Hugo said, “let's take stock here for a minute. We've got two major problems to deal with here: first, the Ministry is after us-”

“Thanatos,” I blurted out. “It's Thanatos after us.”

“Okay, _Thanatos_ is after us, and Vain is trying to kill you-” Oh, god, he didn't know.

There were a million different ways that I could've told him the truth about Thanatos. And I'm sure that I could have done it more gently. But did I think of any of those in the moment? Nope.

“-Actually, I think that still only counts as one.”

Hugo's eyes went wide, and then he buried his face in his hands. “I wish I was surprised..” I patted him on the shoulder, unsure of what else to say.

But I couldn't avoid the question. “So where do we go now?” We couldn't go back to the Academy, as much as I wanted to. But running would only get us so far.

“I.. I don't know,” he admitted.

“Our first priority should be fixing your magic,” I said. If we could do that, all of our problems would be solved. Vain would have no more reason to come after me and would therefore rescind the arrest. Everything would be so much easier- “There must be some way to go where we can research this-”

“I've tried searching almost all the places that I could think of, but I couldn't find anything. Our situation is rather.. unique.” That was putting it mildly. “There is one place that I haven't searched, but.. it would be really dangerous for the both of us.”

A chill ran down my spine. “Where is it?”

He sighed. “It is possible that my magic has to do with me being a- a Dragonkin,” I didn't miss how his words caught at that part, “so the best place to search would be right at the source.”

 

That night, my mind was still abuzz as I tried to lay down to sleep. A lot of things could go wrong once we made it there, and what were the odds that we'd actually be able to find anything?

“Can't sleep?” Hugo's arms wrapped around my waist, and I nestled into his chest.

“I can't stop worrying,” I told him honestly. “What if we make it to the ruins, and things go wrong? What if we can't find any answers?”

“It'll be all right, Liz. As long as you are by my side, I feel like.. I have no reason to fear.” How strange. We laid in silence for a while, and then he spoke up again. “Liz.. You mentioned something about a prophecy before?”

“Yeah. That was the first time that I saw you.” Back then, he had just been the mysterious masked figure; who would've known that he would become such a big part of my life? “The Goddess and her apostle and her..” The words caught in my throat. “Are you sure that you don't remember it?”

“I wish I could; it might make things easier.” You'd think. He was quiet for a minute. “But it does remind me of something.” I tilted my head, and he explained, “The past few years, Vain told me I have a tendency to go into these.. trances. Apparently, I freaked him out real bad the first time I fell in one. He said I would say these strange things that didn't make any sense. I never remembered any of it though, but I think he started writing them down eventually.”

And I remembered something he had said before. 'If things had been different, I might've been the one to give you the prophecy.' So he had known about the prophecy then; perhaps he had ingrained it into his brain. Did he know of his own role in it? Perhaps he had accepted it, knowing what he'd have to do in order to-

“You said that this prophecy is important. What did you remember from it?”

' _Vain is going to kill me. Your brother is destined to kill me.'_

“I think.. I think it has to do with you and Vain. With your battle. And- I think-” It would've been so easy not to tell him. It would've been so easy to say 'I don't remember'. But he deserved to know. “I think it foretold about Vain trying to kill me. I don't remember the end, but I'm afraid- I'm afraid that-”

Hugo held me close. “I don't remember the end of prophecy. But it doesn't matter; we'll make our own future.” How strange. Once upon a time, I had been the one to speak of hope, but now he was the one who held it. How very different things were now.

I fell asleep much easier after that.

 

As we were walking, I had a lot of time to think over everything that happened. To think about what had happened to my friends and what we would do. But, truth be told, my thoughts most often turned to Hugo and Vain.

I remembered Mischa talking about how Vain had raised Hugo, about how everything he did was to protect him. 'I don't think Vain fought back. Not against Hugo,' she had said. And yet.. Hugo had fought him. Hugo had nearly killed him to protect me. I mean, I knew their relationship was complicated, but.. I didn't think that Hugo hated him.

“Liz? Is everything all right?” I bolted up as I heard Hugo's voice, and I gave him a sheepish smile. “You've been kind of quiet.”

“I was just lost in thought,” I said lamely. He tilted his head. Well, now was as good a time as any to ask. “Hey, Hugo, I was just wondering.. After everything, do you hate Vain?” Okay, I probably could have asked that a bit better.

His gaze went distant for a minute. “I'm not sure,” he said at last. “He tried to kill you, Liz. That's not something that I can just easily forgive. But..” I went quiet, listening to his words. Of course I had my own feelings on the matter, but this wasn't about me. “He and Mischa are the only family that I know. I only knew of my parents from the stories Vain told me. He's always rude to other people, but he took care of me. He nearly gave up everything to take care of me while working on his missions.

“Even before he became my boss, he had a way of.. deciding things for me,” he said nervously. “He always believed that he knew best. He'd decide that something could only be done one way, and I'd have no choice but to go along. But I always believed that he knew best, so I went along with him.

“And he believed that he could do it again. He decided for me that the way to save me was to hurt you. But things are different now. Because of you.. I can start to see a future that I get to choose. And I'm not going to let him take that from me.” He met my eyes with resolve. “I care about him, but I'm not going to let him hurt you.”

 

And at last, we came to the place, and my heart skipped a beat at the sight. The building was worn, the letters on the outside long since worn away, but it was still a magnificent building.

“It's said that this place is the sum of all knowledge of the Dragonkin,” Hugo said. “Only the blood of a Dragonkin can get you inside.” I could sense his hesitation. Even though it had been a few weeks since Vain had told him about their heritage, I knew it must've been hard to accept.

“Hugo-” I started to say, but he shook his head.

“It's all right.” He bit his thumb, pressing it to the doors. And the doors slid open. “Well, I guess he was telling the truth there..” Taking his hand, we stepped inside the Library of the Dragonkin.

 

“You find anything yet?”

I shook my head. It felt like we had been searching for hours and hours on any information about Hugo's condition, but there was no information at all.

“Hmm- Ah!” As I was searching for another book, my foot caught on something-

“I got you, it's all right.” Luckily, Hugo caught me in his arms, gently setting me down. What surprise, I tripped over a book. I'm sure we had scattered them all over the place, but this one didn't look familiar. I picked it up, and we sat together. The pages were old and worn, and it opened to one part, as though it had been revisited a thousand times.

'When the queen grew sick,' I read, 'we feared that she and her child would be lost, leaving the eldest prince all alone before he even came of age. But the prince stayed at her side through the night, donating his own magic to her. It was said that he nearly ran out a few times, but he was determined to save her.

'The day the prince came of age, the queen gave birth to her second son and passed from this world.'

“This.. this sounds like what happened with my mother,” Hugo said. My heart ached as I remembered Vain and Mischa's words. The prince and Vain must've been about the same age too. “I feel like this is the one.”

I kept reading. “However, as the younger prince grew, it became clear that his brother had the same weakness as his mother. He required constant donations of magic from his older brother, now the king. However, the king refused to give up on him-”

“I wondered when you would find that. I left that book out just for you.”

My blood turned to ice as I heard the all too familiar voice; I felt Hugo go tense at my side. A million thoughts ran through my mind. ' _I'm not afraid of you.' 'What are you doing here?' 'Let us go-'_

“How did you know that we'd come here?” I asked as I turned to face him.

“I had heard of a Dragonkin child desperate to save his brother,” Felix said, “just as I will save mine.”

 

 


	7. Prince of the Dragonkin

'The Prince of the Dragonkin..' King Felix. Prince Lacan. How could I have not known? I had tried to research Felix and the Dragonkins, but none of them had said anything about this. Only about the king. But, of course, he was the bigger problem.

Hugo wrapped an arm around my shoulders, helping me to my feet. “We defeated you once before,” he snarled. “Do you want to try a second time?”

“Do you realize where you are?” Felix asked. “This is my kingdom, my territory. You are one of my subjects, Hugo, and you dare to threaten me?”

I felt Hugo go tense, and my blood boiled at his words. “Hugo isn't like you! He's-”

“Only half, but that's enough,” Felix said with a wave of his hand. “In fact.. you may just turn out to be one of the strongest. Half Dragon, half human, your power will be mighty indeed. If you can fix your little problem. Which, incidentally,” he glanced up to the bookcases, “is what brought you here, isn't it?”

“..What do you know?” As much as I hated to admit it, he might be the one who actually knew anything about how to save Hugo.

“It's true that I found a way for Lacan and I to coexist, but why would I tell you? You are my enemy.” He stepped closer to us, and I took a step back. “I admit, some parts of your situation are still a mystery to me. The blood of Harkin runs through your veins, even though he still slumbers.”

“Harkin,” Hugo whispered, “that's-”

“But I can still tell some things. For example..” His gaze fell on me. “You are the one who donated your magic to Hugo, aren't you?” I didn't say a word, but he took my silence as enough. “In that case, the solution for you is simple: kill the girl.”

“I won't hurt her!”

“Then perhaps I'll do it for you.” And suddenly Felix was in front of me, light gathering in his hands, and it was just like that night when it had been Vain before me-

And I could only think one thing: 'if I die here, what will happen to Hugo?'

“Get away from me!” I screamed, and then there was a bright maroon light-

And all the world went still. I could feel Hugo at my side, but Felix was still, as though he was.. frozen. I had seen this before only a few times.

“D-did I freeze time?”

Hugo suddenly grabbed my arm. “This won't last long,” he warned me. “We need to get out of here now.” Right. My magic was still unstable, and I doubt the same trick would work twice. Hand in hand, we ran-

Suddenly, Hugo fell to his knees, a tremendous cough wracking his body. “Hugo!” I rushed to his side, holding him in my arms. We had to run, but we couldn't move-

“Well, this is interesting.” My blood ran cold as I heard Felix's voice. “Even now, you grow more powerful, wizardess, and he grows weaker.”

“What's going on? What's happening to Hugo?!” I knew that his power was weak, but for his power to fail _now-_

“You still don't understand, do you?” Felix laughed. “His power is tied to yours. As your magic grows stronger, his will grow weaker.”

This was.. my fault? If I used my time magic, Hugo would lose his!And I thought of all the times that I'd used my magic, never knowing that it would lead us here-

“Liz,” he told me, squeezing my hand, “don't blame yourself. This is..”

“Well, this has been fun, but I've got business to attend to elsewhere. Do what you will with the library. I'm sure we'll meet again.” Darkness clouded my vision, and, when it faded, he was gone.

I turned my attention back to Hugo, my mind racing. Felix was gone, but what do we do now?

 

I stayed at Hugo's side through the night, tending to him. Eventually, he fell into sleep, and I heard a gentle knocking at the door.

'Who could that be?' Had the Ministry followed us to this place too? If it was Felix coming back, he would've just opened the door himself. But if it were Klaus-

“Liz, open up! It's me!” I relaxed at the familiar voice, and I ran to open the door. Sure enough, Mischa was standing at the door, a basket at her feet. I picked her up, carrying her and the basket back to our spot in the library. “I was trying to hurry back to you,” Mischa said, “but it suddenly felt like my power failed on the way here..”

I winced. “Yeah, I'm sorry about that,” I said. I peeked inside the basket; it was overflowing with food, enough to last us for weeks. “Where did you get all of this?”

“Well, Klaus kinda thinks I'm his cat- it's a long story.” I just shook my head. “What about you? How did you end up here?”

And so I told Mischa about our own misadventures, about meeting Felix, about our discovery. And her eyes went wide. “So that would explain it. My power is tied to Vain's, so his magic must be draining even quicker now.”

“Don't remind me,” I murmured. Everything that we had been striving for, and we were worse off than we were before. In the end, I only made things worse, didn't I?

“Liz.” I looked down at Mischa's voice. “I know what you're thinking, but this isn't your fault.”

After everything, I found that hard to believe. “But if I hadn't given my magic.. If I hadn't-” A million what-ifs raced through my mind, but Mischa just shook her head.

“If you hadn't given your magic, Hugo wouldn't have even be born,” she reminded me. “I didn't know her long, but.. Lady Lily was grateful to you for the rest of her days.” I felt tears in my eyes at her gentle words. “Everything you did for them back then- heck, everything you've done for them since. All the stuff you've done for Hugo- goodness, you took care of Vain even when- even when..” She couldn't get out the words, and she bowed her head. “..Liz, I'm sorry.”

“What for?”

“I-I knew what Vain was planning that night.” Her voice was shaking; I had never seen her like this. “But I was afraid. Afraid for Hugo, for Vain- And then when they came back, and Vain was so injured- I knew why, but I couldn't say. I was so afraid for him that I- if Hugo hadn't stepped in- Oh, Liz, I'm so sorry!”

“Mischa..” I picked her up in my arms. I felt an odd sort of calmness as I held her. I should've been angry, but I couldn't bring myself to be mad at her. “I'm not mad at you. You only wanted to protect Vain.”

“Even though he tried to-”

“Even still.” Strangely, I couldn't myself to be mad at Vain either, not really. Don't get me wrong, I was still terrified of him, but.. I knew that he was trying to save Hugo. “After all, he was trying to save Hugo too. I'm not sure what I would've done.” I had never had a sibling, so I may not have not known exactly what Vain was going through, but.. When I thought of all the things I had done for my friends, and that my friends had done for me, I could understand the desperation he felt. Even now, I was fighting for the same cause.

..I wondered what my friends were up to right now. Perhaps they were in the Night Cafe, perhaps they were fighting with Klaus. Even though I had Hugo by my side, I felt a twinge of loneliness knowing they weren't here.

And I remembered Mischa's words a moment ago, at the unfamiliar name. “Lily.. She was their mother, wasn't she?” Mischa nodded. “And their father, his name was Harkin, wasn't it?”

“Yes; I only knew of him through their stories though. From the sounds of it, they loved him dearly though.”

Come to think of it, I had never heard the story of how Mischa ended up with the Peers family. “Mischa, how did you meet them anyway?”

“Lily found me and took me in when I was still a kitten,” she explained, and her eyes grew distant. “It was freezing that day, and I was starving.. Vain found me and gave me some of his own magic, and I've stayed by his side ever since. I don't know where I would have been if they hadn't been there that day.” My heart hurt at her story.

“I'm glad they found you,” I said honestly. “-Wait, did you say gave you some of his magic?” Mischa nodded. I remembered what the book said about Felix donating magic to his brother. It probably wasn't the right fix, but it was something that I could _do_ for now. “Could you show me how?”

 

Hugo slowly sat up, and I couldn't help but giggle at his bedhead. “Good morning, sleepyhead.”

“Good morning,” he said with a slight smile. “How long was I out for?”

“A few hours, but you needed the rest,” I reassured him. “How are you feeling? I gave you some of my magic.”

“Thank you, Liz. That would explain why I no longer feel like I've been hit in the head,” he murmured as he rubbed at his head, making his bedhead worse. He finally looked up, noticing Mischa beside me. “When did you get here?”

“Last night,” she said, back to her usual prim and proper self. “I came back from staying with Klaus, and I even brought food.” I showed him the basket Mischa had brought.

“If you were staying with Klaus,” Hugo asked at once, “do you have news of the Ministry?”

“It appears that Klaus and the Ministry actually have their hands full at the moment,” Mischa answered. “After you left, this Hinomotoan merchant came to the academy, and all of their focus has been on protecting him. I don't know the full story, but it appears that he has something the Dragonkins want. It seems that Felix is sending all of his forces after him. And..” She stopped, unsure, then said, “And I have heard that those forces include Rembrandt. It appears Felix has freed him.”

I shivered at her words. I hadn't known about any of that. I wondered if that was the business Felix said he had to take care of. 'That poor man..'

Hugo groaned. “If I had been there, one of my missions would have been protecting that man. Or going after Rembrandt- But.. I've been so focused on restoring my own magic that I lost contact with my missions.” Of course, that would've been something he found out through Vain.

“Hugo, it's not your fault.” Hugo bowed his head, and we sat in silence for a while. Wasn't there anything I could do to cheer them up?

“Oh, I know!” I held up the basket again. “Why don't I fix us up some breakfast? Then we can focus on our plan.” Hugo offered me a smile.

 

When I came back with the food, I heard Hugo and Mischa talking; I assumed they were going over the situation with the merchant. But I saw that Mischa's fur was on end, and there was a look on her face that I hadn't seen before. “Hugo, you can't be serious-”

My heart plummeted. “What's going on?” They both turned to look at me, and a thousand emotions flickered across Hugo's face. “..Hugo?”

At last, he sighed. “After talking with Mischa, I think that.. I think that Felix might be trying to get an item from the merchant so he can restore Lacan,” he explained. I remembered Felix's words about 'saving his brother'. “If he wakes Lacan up..” He stopped, but I didn't need to hear the end. “While we've been searching for a cure for me,” he seethed, “Felix has nearly completed his plan, and we were unaware.”

“It's not your fault!” I protested. “You can't do anything to help until you restore your magic.”

“There is something that I can do,” he answered. “Time magic could be the key to stopping him, but.. right now, it's too dangerous for me to use any. That's why we need your magic.”

My magic came in fits. After all, I was only able to freeze Felix for a minute at best. How would I stand against Felix or Rembrandt? And if my power grew- “But my time magic is too weak! I couldn't stand against Felix-”

“That's why..” Hugo stopped for a minute, then he met my eyes with resolve. “That's why I want to train you.”

 

 


	8. Training

His words sank in with horror. Time magic would do us good, but, if I gained any more power, Hugo's magic would only drain faster and faster. “No!” I cried. “Absolutely not!”

“Liz-”

“Do you even understand what you're asking of me?” I asked.

“Then what would you have me do?! If Lacan awakens, your future is lost- and right now, we are helpless to stop him!” My heart ached at his words. He sighed. “..I'm not going to give up searching, Liz, but.. it's my job to protect this future. _Your_ future. So, if we have to put aside the search for a little while, so be it.”

Logically, I knew that what he was saying was right; we were putting the rest of the world on hold for something that we might never find. But I couldn't say it. I couldn't give up. “Hugo, don't make me make this choice..”

His gaze softened. “Then think nothing more of it,” he said. He looked away from me, choosing to look at the bookcases. “There is a lot of knowledge here, and we haven't searched this whole place. Perhaps there is something here that can help us.” His words sounded hollow in my ears, but I played along. Because the alternative was something I didn't want to consider.

 

But the more we searched, the less we found. We searched every corner of that library for days, stopping only to eat and sleep, but none of them said anything more about Felix and Lacan's case or any other case like it. 'Well, I can't imagine that this is a common situation. And Felix might have destroyed evidence of any other case.'

And my mind kept drifting to what the others were doing. Any second that we spent in the library was a moment that Felix and Rembrandt had to keep coming after that poor man. And something told me that it was only a matter of time before they caught him. Every moment that we were searching for a solution, they were a step closer to reviving Lacan.

A week after Hugo had brought up the solution, and I was starting to consider his offer. 'If I knew how to use my time magic, we might have a chance.' Even the few seconds I could buy us might make all the difference.

And, in trying to rationalize it, I remembered that Felix had the answer. If we fought him, if we could stop him- as impossible as that seemed- perhaps we could get him to tell us what he had done. Of course, it was impossible, I knew that, but.. wasn't all of this?

Finally, I went to Hugo. “Is your offer to train me still good?” I asked.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked gently, and I nodded.

 

A library wasn't the best place to train your magic, to be sure, but at least it was safe and sealed. I gave Hugo a shaky smile as I faced him. “What are we starting with?”

“In a battle, the ability to freeze time will be the most critical, so we'll start from there,” he said. I had only used that ability a few times, and it had always proved to be useful.

Mischa jumped up on one of the bookshelves, smiling. “This brings back memories,” she said. “I still remember Vain trying you how to use your magic, Hugo.”

Did I detect that Hugo was blushing? “Oh, Mischa, don't remind me.”

“I can't imagine what that must have been like,” I said, but something told me that Vain was more of a sink or swim mentor. Though he was probably a bit more gentle with Hugo.

“He wouldn't rest until I could do the spells backwards and forwards. The number of times he had me redo those spells..” He shook his head. “Anyway, Mischa, if you'd please?”

I wasn't actually sure how we'd go about this, but I noticed Mischa sneaking over to one of the shelves- one of the shelves I _knew_ I'd hidden some of the snacks. “Mischa, what are you doing?” Sure enough, Mischa pulled out my basket of snacks- and started pulling it off the shelves. “Mischa, wait-”

As I let out a cry, the world went still, the snacks freezing in mid-air- but only for a moment, before they went splat on the ground.

“Sorry about that, but, as I learned long ago,” Hugo commented idly, “cats pushing stuff off is a sure fire way to get a quick reaction time.”

“You don't think you could have given me a little warning?” I asked, feeling my face go red. “I was saving those to share with you anyway.”

“Whoops.” He looked away. “I'll have to be more careful next time. Shall we keep going?” I wasn't looking forward to what I'd have to catch next, but I kept going.

 

“I think you almost got it that time.”

“Don't laugh at me..” I plopped down at the ground. After the snack incident, Mischa had mainly stuck to knocking books off the shelves. Truth be told, I did feel that I was able to freeze time for longer. “I feel like I'm a novice wizardess again, making it rain frogs in Schuyler's class.”

“Oh?” Hugo gave a slight smile. “I don't believe I've heard that story.”

Oh no! “I-I have no idea what you're talking about, Hugo!” I protested. “I definitely didn't make it rain frogs- or give a teapot legs-” Gah, why couldn't I stop talking?

Aaand Hugo was laughing. “It's hard to believe the Goddess of Time would make such mistakes.” It was rare to hear Hugo laughing so hard, and I couldn't bring myself to stop him.

“Hugo, are you really one to talk about novice mistakes? I believe I could tell Liz quite a few stories about _your_ training.” My ears perked up despite myself.

“Oh, do go on,” I said.

“Well, there was this one time, when Hugo thought it would be a good idea to-”

“Mischa, don't you tell that story!” Hugo shook his head. “I swear, you're as bad as Vain sometimes about telling those stories..”

“I can attest to that,” I said. I couldn't resist the chance to tease him. “There was one time that Vain showed me a bunch of photos of you two from when you were little. He had so many stories~”

“What?!” I had never seen Hugo's face go that red before.

We laughed for a little more, sharing stories. It was a welcome break from the training, but eventually Hugo stood up. “Well, we should get back to training..”

And suddenly I was aware that Hugo looked a little paler than usual. “Hugo, are you all right?”

“I'll be fine,” he said, but I took his hand.

“When we're done training, I'll give you some of my magic, all right?”

“..Thank you.” We both knew it was a temporary solution, but at least I could prevent things from getting worse. For now.

 

“Careful, careful-”

“I'll be fine!” Once I had mostly gotten the hang of freezing time, Hugo had started teaching me other things, and I was finding teleportation to be the most useful. I could see why Hugo relied on it so much! “I can see where-” Suddenly, a strange noise caught my ear. I felt like I had heard it somewhere before, but I couldn't quite place it-

“Watch out!” Of course, right as I spoke, I found myself running right into Hugo's chest. He wrapped his arms around me, catching himself before he fell against the bookshelves. I looked up into his eyes, seeing his face turn pink. “Are you all right?”

“I-I'm fine.” I pulled away from him.

“What made you stop?”

“I-I heard this noise-” And just as I spoke, I heard the noise again, closer this time, but Hugo just looked at me in confusion. “There is it again!”

“I don't hear anything.” But Mischa went stiff.

“No, I hear them too,” she said. “Quickly, the two of you need to hide now!” My heart racing, I grabbed Hugo's hand, pulling him to one of the hidden sections of the library.

_'We should be fine here.'_ It had taken us a few days of exploring the library to find that place, so I doubted they would able to find us-

But then Hugo started coughing! “Hugo-”

“I-I'm sorry-” He said between coughs, clutching at his chest, and I saw that he was even paler, doubled over. I had been using so much power teleporting, of course it would have an even worse effect on him-

“Hang in there!” I held him close, trying to summon my magic to give to him, but my hands were shaking as I heard an all too familiar voice coming from just outside the doors- and the doors opening, that awful noise growing louder and louder-

“So this is the library of the Dragonkins, huh? Let's see what you got.” And then he stopped. “Huh, is somebody there?”

“Please, Hugo,” I whispered, “we have to be quiet-” But his coughing grew harsher and harsher with every breath, and the footsteps grew closer and closer.

“Show yourself!”

Hugo's eyes went wide. “Vain?!”

 


	9. Time is Running Out

And suddenly there he was, right in front of us. Every part of me was screaming to run, the noise pounding, but I was frozen in fear. Besides, I couldn't just leave Hugo here! But to my surprise-

“Hugo?!” Vain rushed to his brother's side, not even sparing a glance in my direction. “What happened to you?” He attempted to support Hugo on his shoulder, but he only pushed Vain away.

“G-get away from me! After what you did to us-”

“Do you hear yourself?” Vain said, stepping back. “Hugo, I haven't seen you like this since... You have to let me help you!”

“I don't.. want your help!” Hugo snarled. “And if you take another step towards Liz-” Vain's gaze drifted to me as if realizing that I was there for the first time, but Hugo suddenly lost consciousness, and Vain rushed forward to catch him in his arms.

“Dang it, I should have known! If my magic's fallen so far, of course his would have fallen as well. But how did he get this bad?” A chill ran down my spine at his words. Of course I knew that his magic had been draining since we had been training, but for his magic to have fallen so far..! “I can give him some of my magic, at least-”

“I don't think you should; he already told you that he doesn't want your magic,” I said, supporting Hugo with my shoulder. Vain opened his mouth to sneer at me, but I got there first. “Or are you going to override that decision too?” He fell dead silent, unable to think of a response. “Please, leave us alone. I'm going to give Hugo some of my magic, so you don't have to do anything.”

“I have no intention of hurting him-”

I wanted to laugh. “You can understand how that would be a little difficult for me to believe, right?” I asked. “You sent the Ministry after us. I'm surprised you haven't tried to attack me already.” He went silent, avoiding my gaze.

“Believe me, I couldn't do very much damage to you right now,” he muttered sullenly.

“What do you mean?”

He sighed. “Perhaps it would be easier just to show you.” He brushed aside his bangs, and I gaped at the sight. The magic in his eye had faded, leaving it the same color as his visible one.

“Your magic's gone?” I had been so worried about how my training had affected Hugo that I had forgotten that it would affect Vain too.

“Most of it. My mother- and Hugo- got the larger share of magic, but.. I'm still wary. Of course, I do have other magic from before, but.. it's been an eternity since I had to use it. I've almost forgotten how to.”

I started to move Hugo away from him. 'Now would be a good time to teleport,' I thought, but it was a risk. I had never teleported so far. “If that's the case, you should get out of here.” I couldn't move Hugo too far, so I set him down on the ground gently.

“This may come as a surprise, but I didn't actually come here for you or for Hugo,” he said. “I came here to find information on the rituals of the Dragonkin. If you'll excuse me..” He brushed past me, studying the shelves.

“The rituals of the Dragonkins?” I felt unease at his words, and he sighed.

“How much do you know about Hisoka Hagakure?” he asked. “He's a Hinomotoan merchant-”

I remembered what Mischa said about the others protecting a merchant at school. “I believe I've heard a little. Mischa said he had something that Felix wanted.”

“A watch,” Vain answered. “And now it appears that Felix has obtained it. We believe that it was one of the components in the ritual to awaken Lacan- and possibly the last. So I've come here to see what info I could find on the ritual before its too late.”

“No..” All of this time, we'd been training to stop Felix, to stop Lacan, hoping that the world would stay still outside. But I was barely a step stronger, and soon Lacan would be here-

' _If Lacan awakens, the future is lost,'_ Hugo had said. How could we have let it get this far?

I felt like me and Hugo had searched every book in here, but none of them had mentioned a ritual to awaken the Dragonkins. Felix had been mentioned a few times, but barely any of them had mentioned Lacan. Still, I might have missed it in my search.

“If you'll search the other room, I'll search in here once I take care of him,” I told him, and he nodded, leaving the room. As soon as he was out of the room, I felt like I could breathe a little easier, and I noticed that horrible sound stopped. I knelt down by Hugo's side, giving him some of my magic.

' _I'm alone in this library with a man who might end up being my killer,'_ I thought, taking a deep breath, _'but I can do this.'_

 

“Did you find anything?”

It must have been a few hours later that Vain came back to me, books tucked under his arms. I probably jumped a little, but I kept my expression blank as I faced him. “There's not much. The books mention Felix sometimes but never Lacan.” I looked up at him. “Do they not have any information on the ritual in the future?”

“No one was around to see it,” he responded curtly. “No one who survived it, anyway.” A shiver ran down my spine at his words.

“You know, I wouldn't be surprised if Felix destroyed any information on him,” I muttered without thinking. “He destroyed the book about Lacan's powers.”

“..Lacan's powers?” Uh-oh. Do I tell him or not? “What did you find?” I told him about the book that we had found when we first came to the library, about how Felix and Lacan's power were tired together- as well as how Hugo and mine were- and he glared. “That's quite important information to leave out, little bunny!”

“Okay, but you can understand why I'd be hesitant to tell you, well, anything?” I couldn't help but comment. “Especially when it comes to Hugo's powers? You're destined to kill me over it-”

Suddenly, I heard a familiar, distant voice. “The one who slays the Goddess takes her gift and her life, then reunites with her follower.” It had been months since I'd heard them for the first time, but I still felt the same chill as I did when I'd heard them the first time. How could I have forgotten?

I looked over to Hugo; he was sitting up, his eyes wide open, but there was an emptiness to them as he recited the prophecy. But when I looked over to Vain, his expression was calm.

“It's been a while, but this'll pass,” he said, setting down his books and having a seat. “He should be waking up in a few minutes.” Of course, I'd already known deep down that he knew, but it was strange to hear him confirm that he knew. A million questions raced through my mind, but there was only one that was pertinent now.

“What do you plan to do now?”

“I'm going to do what I can. We may not know how the ritual was done, but we know where Lacan was sealed: the Castle in the Sky, just like Felix. I have just enough power left to get there.”

“And what are you going to do once you get there?” I asked, getting to my feet. “Surely, you can't be planning to fight him yourself-” I had seen Felix's powers with my own eyes. Even when it had all been just a game, he had been able to destroy everything in his path. “He'd destroy you!”

“And just who do you propose I take with me?” he snarled. “Hugo is losing his magic by the day, and I will not allow him to lose any more. And any magic you use just might be that final push. We have only a few days at best before Lacan awakens; there's not any time to find anybody else. I may not stand a chance, but I'm the only shot we have.”

At the end of everything, here we were. After all my training, I was still useless. After all our searching, all I had done was exhaust Hugo's power further and further. After everything Hugo and Vain had done to save our future, it might all end up the same way in the end.

“Liz?” I realized that I was shaking. I took a deep breath, but I couldn't steady myself.

I didn't want it to end here. I didn't want to be stuck here, in a rotting library, at the end, with Hugo fading by the day. I wanted to be with my friends, I wanted to be with Hugo, I wanted to be back in our village, in our house. I wanted to be home. I wanted to be unafraid.

But I could only have it for so long. It had to be now.

“Vain, I'll make you a deal.”

 

“How long have I been out?”

“A few hours.” I knelt by Hugo's side, helping him to his feet. “We've been searching for info on Lacan while you were out.”

“We?” Hugo's eyes went wide as Vain stepped into the room. “You-”

“Wait, don't hurt him!” I grabbed his hand before he could attack. “Vain and I worked things out while you were sleeping.” Hugo's gaze turned to me, and I felt a chill, but I still met his gaze with determination. “Isn't that right, Vain?”

“Yes. There was a lot of yelling on both our parts,” Vain admitted sheepishly, “but we managed to work it out. I've believed that I've been doing what was best for you, but Liz helped me realize that hurting her was only going to hurt you too.”

“So then you won't come after her anymore?” Hugo asked. “You'll call off the Ministry?” He stepped in front of me, almost physically shielding me from Vain, but Vain didn't move an inch.

“Already did. Of course, it was a pain to explain, but.. I suppose I have nobody but myself to blame for that one.” He sighed. I had to admit, he played it off well. “In fact, it may be necessary for the two of you to go back to your friends. We'll need all the help we can get.”

Slowly, Vain and I recapped our discoveries about the ritual. A flicker of surprise passed over Hugo's face, but he slipped back into his mask like expression. “How long do we have?”

“Two days. Go back to the Academy, gather your friends, and then we'll go to the Castle in the Sky.”

“Go.. back?” How long had we been stuck in this library? How long had it been since we'd seen our friends? Going back seemed almost impossible.

“That's right!” I said, as cheery as you please. “We're finally going to go home.”

Hugo looked with hesitation, and we started to gather our stuff. Mischa silently came to our side. I knew what she was going to say, but I just shook my head.

“I'll be on my way then. I'll see you in two days.”

“Wait,” Hugo called out, and Vain stopped, turning back to face him. His expression was blank. A thousand unspoken words passed between them in a heartbeat, and Hugo finally said, “Thank you.”

And I could have sworn Vain smiled.

I wished that I could have told Hugo the truth, of the deal. I wish I could've told him everything. But I knew that if he knew.. he would've stopped me.

 


	10. Prophecy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is darker! Also, the italicized portion in the middle is from Hugo's point of view!

It was strange, coming back to Liz Village; it felt like it had been an eternity since we had been there. ' _The last time we were here, Hugo was ushering me out a window,'_ I thought. Everything had been falling apart back then.

I was amazed as I walked into our house. I thought the place would've been trashed, but it was pristine. Even the garden was still pristine. “The others must've been taking care of this place while we were gone. I'll have to thank them when we find them.” Hugo was oddly silent on the way in, and I tilted my head. “Huuugo?”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry. It's just.. hard to believe, I guess. After all this time of running, we're back here.” He idly ran his hands over the bedroom door. “Vain and I don't have to fight. It feels like a dream. What did the two of you even say to each other?”

“We talked about you, mainly,” I answered. “I convinced him that going after me would only hamper our search for a cure. And once we got past that, he told me a few more stories-” Hugo's face went bright red, and I giggled. “Well, let's get back to unpacking-”

Suddenly, there was a pounding at the door. “Liz, is that you?!” I recognized Zeus's familiar voice, and I ran to open the door. Sure enough, there was Zeus and all of our friends at the door, gaping at us.

My heart soared with happiness, and I threw my arms around them, pulling them into a group hug. “Oh, I'm so glad to see you all again!” Was I crying? I think I was crying.

“We saw that the lights were on,” Alfonse said, “we heard that the Ministry called off the search for you- what happened?!”

“It's a long story,” I said. “Come on in, we have so much to catch up on!” Our friends poured into the house, settling around the living room.

Zeus made a beeline for Hugo, throwing his arm around his shoulder. “Old iron mask!” he said. “You two have a lot of explaining to do!”

I expected Hugo to snap at Zeus, but, to my surprise, he smiled at Zeus. “It's good to see you all again.” Zeus's eyes went wide. I guess Hugo was appreciative of even Zeus after spending all that time in the library.

“Dude, are you sick?” Hugo scowled and lifted Zeus's arm from his shoulder.

I sat down, turning to the others. “So, I know we have a lot to tell you, but it seems like you have a lot to talk about as well. I heard through the grapevine that you had an adventure with a merchant coming to the academy?”

“Oh, Hisoka! You'll love him! He went back to Hinomoto for a few weeks, but we'll have to introduce you when he gets back.”

 

“Wait, you're telling me Thanatos is your _brother?!”_

“It came as quite a surprise to me too,” Hugo commented. In the end, we decided to tell them everything. “He'd been working behind the scenes for a long time to help you all.”

To our surprise, they took the rest of the story well. Of course, they were angry at Vain, but they calmed down when we told them we got it all sorted. 'Well, half true.'

“I'll still punch him in the face when I see him next,” Zeus grumbled.

“You might have a chance to see him soon. You see, we could use your help..” They were quiet as we explained about our plan.

“The Castle in the Sky.. it feels like it's been a long time since we've been there.”

“The last time we went there was when we first saw Felix in person,” Lucious commented. “That guy still gives me the creeps.”

“Caesar, do you remember the seal?” He nodded. “We believe that Lacan's might soon be broken as well. Will you help us?”

“Do you even need to ask?” The others all smiled and nodded.

“We're your friends!” Alfonse said cheerily. “Is this even a question?”

 

We stayed up talking for quite a while, sharing stories and relaxing. Even with Lacan's awakening so close at hand, I found myself at ease surrounded by my friends. ' _I'm so glad that I could see them all again..'_

“Good night! Have a safe trip back!” I called to the others as they left. I turned to see Hugo sitting on the couch, half-dozing already. He was trying his hardest to stay awake, of course, but he was still recovering from magic loss, it was a wonder he had stayed awake this long. “Hugo, you need to get to bed.”

“I can stay up a little longer,” he said, but I took his arm and helped him back. I gently laid him down and sat down on the edge of the bed.

My heart sank as I looked at him. He was paler than ever, and I knew he was growing weaker. He was only going to get sicker and sicker as long as I had power.

“Get some sleep,” I told him gently, running my hands through his hair. “I love you, Hugo.”

“Liz...” Hugo murmured, “why does this feel like a goodbye?” My breath hitched in my throat. But, before I could answer, he was already fast asleep.

Sitting at his side, in our home, in the moonlight.. I wished that it could stay like this forever. I wished that I could stay with him forever.

Slowly, I got to my feet. “Mischa,” I called, “watch over him for me, will you?”

“Liz.. Are you sure that you want to do this?” I wanted to answer with certainty, but I found that I was more afraid than I thought. The words wouldn't come out. I shook my head and stepped out of the room. As I left the house, I cast a sealing spell on the door.

I stepped out into the village, shivering in the cool night air. No matter how I tried to steady myself, no matter how I tried to rationalize it away, I found that I couldn't stop shaking.

I heard a familiar, wretched noise, growing louder and louder, and I knew what it meant. Vain stepped out of the shadows; his expression was unreadable. I wondered how he felt about all of this. I suppose it didn't matter.

“I have to say, I didn't expect you to actually show up, after everything,” he said coolly.

“You kept your end of the bargain, now it's time for me to keep mine.”

I remembered the deal that I had struck with him. ' _Let us have one more day,'_ I had told him. ' _Call off the Ministry. Let us go home. Let us have one day of peace. And then..'_

_'And then?'_

_'And then my magic is yours.'_

“You really do love him, don't you?” he asked suddenly. “And he really loves you, you know. He used to follow me without question, but now.. now, he was willing to stand up to me for you. He was willing to kill me for you.”

“That's where you're wrong. He was standing up to you for himself. He wanted to carve out a path for himself for once. I just helped him realize that.”

“And you love him. You're willing to die for him.”

I felt something on my cheek, and I realized I was crying. “I'm sorry,” I said without thinking. “I'm standing out here shaking and crying.. You must think I'm so weak.” Vain simply shook his head. “Is it going to hurt?” I couldn't help but ask.

“You have been kind to me, Goddess. This'll be painless.”

“That's a relief.” Although I supposed it didn't matter either. No matter what happened, the fallout was going to hurt either way.

Whatever came of the battle, I would never get to see it. Whatever happened next, I'd have to entrust it to their hands. But the world was safer in their hands. The world needed Hugo, not me.

And my blood froze as I heard another sound, rising above the cacophony. Voices. First Mischa, crying out, and then- ' _ Hugo's awake!'  _ This wasn't how it was supposed to be. He was supposed to be asleep right now. He wasn't supposed to find out right now.

“Where is she?!”

After everything, I couldn't back down now. ' _ I'm so sorry, Hugo!'  _ “Vain, it has to be now!” I cried. “Do it now!”

“Liz-” A flicker of surprise passed over Vain's face. After everything, how was he hesitating now? “Hugo-”

“Do it now!”

 

**Hugo**

* * *

 

_A strange, loud noise woke me up, and I heard panic in Mischa's voice. “Hugo, you're not supposed to be up yet-”_

_I looked over, but Liz wasn't by my side. I felt strangely uneasy when she wasn't here. “Mischa, did Liz go for a walk?”_

_“Go back to sleep..” There was something in Mischa's voice that I couldn't place, and I sat up, though the world spun around me. I hated feeling so weak._

_“Where is she?”_

_“Please, go back to sleep!” I covered my ears as that horrible noise played again. “You weren't supposed to find out this way-”_

_“Find out what? Tell me what's going on! Where is she?!”_

_Mischa bowed her head. “Liz.. Liz made a deal with Vain. In exchange for your freedom from the Ministry, she..” Of course. I should have known that this was too good to be true. I should have known he wouldn't give up on the chase, not without getting something in return. I should have known what she would do for me._

_“T-this can't be happening. I'm going to kill him!”_

_I ran to the living room, and my heart almost stopped as I saw them through the window. She was shaking as she faced him, but I couldn't hear the words over that noise-_

_I tried to summon my power, but nothing came. Even after everything, my magic was weaker than ever. I had nothing left._

_I needed to get out of here. I needed to get to her. If I didn't-_

_If I couldn't get through the door with magic, I'd just have to knock it down. I threw myself against the door, over and over again, pounding on it. “Liz! Let me out!” I screamed her name-_

_And saw her fall._

_“Liz!”_

* * *

* * *

 

All it took was a moment.

Everything hurt; from my head to the tips of my fingers to my toes, everything was aching as I fell, but he was glowing, surrounded by maroon light that seemed to go on forever. The world was fading, but I couldn't take my eyes off of him.

“So this is my magic..”

He was.. shaking? “Why? Why would you do this?”

“Liz!” I heard Hugo's voice, and then he was there, lifting me up in his arms. It was funny, in a way. I didn't want him to see me like this, at the end, but.. at the same time, it was comforting to know that he was here. “Liz, what happened? I'll- I'll-” There were a thousand things I wanted to say. How many ways could I say I'm sorry? How many ways could I say 'I love you'? “Why did you do this?”

“We are two halves of the same heart. I.. I had to save you.”

“I.. I understand now.” Vain was kneeling at my side, and his hand was glowing with light. Was he going to finish me off?

Louder, louder-

“Get away from her-” His voice was choked with tears..

It hurt to even speak now, but there was something I had to say. “Please, don't hate Vain.”

“Liz, he-”

“This was nobody's choice but my own,” I told him. “The world needs you. Please just..” I didn't have time. “I love you, Hugo.”

Louder, louder-

I closed my eyes to the light-

And the pain faded, the light returning. And suddenly, Hugo let out a cry-

I opened my eyes, and I saw Hugo clutching his chest; my heart ached in kind. “W-what did you do to me? What did you do to her?”

“Half,” Vain said. “I split your power in half and gave you each half. It should be enough.”

“W-what about you?” It was easier to breathe now, as if a great weight been lifted off my chest. “I don't care about my magic,” Vain said without hesitation. “All I care about is that you two are all right. And now you will be.”

“That's.. wonderful to hear.” My magic was restored, but I felt weak. The last thing I heard before passing out was Hugo calling out my name-

And then, at last, blissful silence.

 

When I awoke, it was morning, and Hugo was sitting at my side. “W-what happened?”

“You passed out,” he said, offering me a glass of water. As I drank, he explained, “Your body was adapting to the change in magic, but you should be fine now.”

The memories of the night before came rushing back to me. Meeting Vain, Hugo screaming out for me, my magic split between us.. I felt weaker than ever, but I was alive..

And, when I looked at Hugo, he was stronger than I'd ever seen him, his color returned. He was practically glowing. I squeezed his hand. “I'm so glad to see you're all right.”

“And I'm glad too,” he said with a smile. But then his smile faded as he swept me into a crushing hug. “But do you have any idea how stupid that was?! You scared me half to death! If- if things had gone a little bit differently, you've would've..” He couldn't even finish the words, but he didn't need to. The stupidity of my plan was hitting me full in the face now.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry-” He held me tight, and only then did I notice something. “Whatever we do, we do together, right?”

“Right. We are bound together now, so.. please, don't leave me behind.”

We stayed in silence for a long while, and only then did I realize it. Silence. “Hugo- Hugo, the noise stopped.” The noises that had begun that night, when Vain told me of his new mission, the songs of the world's end, had now gone silent. “Does this mean..”

“The prophecy has been fulfilled, it seems,” Hugo said. “And here we are, the Goddess and her Apostle. We're all right; we're going to be all right.”

There was just one more question. “Where's Vain?”

“He went on ahead, to the Castle in the Sky.” My stomach was in knots as I heard that. In all the chaos, I had almost forgotten why we had done this.

“That's right.. we still have to face Felix.”

The fight wasn't over yet. Our magic was restored, and yet Felix still loomed. We still had no way of coming next. But for now.. for now, we had each other. And whatever came next, we'd face it. Together.

 

_Yet, his life was wrapped with happiness.._

 


	11. The Fight

A few hours later, there was a knocking at the door. Despite everything, I found myself going tense, but Hugo gently put a hand on my shoulder. “I'll go check it out.”

A few minutes later, I heard familiar voices and relaxed. And our friends poured into the room, and I couldn't help but smile. “It's good to see you all again,” I said. I thought that I'd never see them again so many times, but here they were with us again.

“Liz, are you all right?”

“I'm fine,” I said. “Just had a long day yesterday.”

“Hugo,” Alfonse asked, “are you sure you'll be fine to go with us? Your magic-”

“It's fine,” Hugo said with a smile. “We managed to work it out.” In time, I would certainly explain what had happened that night; they deserved to know the truth. ..Most of the truth, anyway. But this was not the time or the place for that. “I'm not going anywhere.”

There was another knock on the door, and the others looked over with understanding. Alfonse turned back with a smile. “Liz, we need to speak to Hugo for a few minutes. In the meantime, I think there's somebody here to speak to you.” I didn't have time to answer before the others disappeared into the other room.

“Liz?” My heart almost stopped at the familiar voice.

“Klaus?” Last time I had seen him, it had been right before everything had gone haywire. He had been chasing me down then. To say my heart wasn't skipping a beat as he walked through the door..

“I can't say that I really understand everything, but Vain explained almost everything to me,” he said; I'd never seen him so bashful. “I wanted to say I'm sorry. When Thanatos gave the order to come after you and Hugo, I should have-” He stopped. “I'm sorry, Liz.”

' _Don't cry, don't cry-'_ “It's all right, Klaus. A lot of things happened, a lot of confusing things, but.. I'm just happy everything's all right now.”

 

I talked with Klaus for a little bit, trying to explain everything that had happened. Finally, the others came back into the room.

“Are we all ready?” I asked, getting to my feet. And just like that, we were on our way, to the final battle. To the Castle in the Sky.

 

“Are you all right?” Hugo immediately came to my side once we made it to the castle. It was my first time teleporting such a large group, so I was a little woozy, but I gave Hugo a smile.

“I'm fine, I'm fine,” I reassured him. Still, I found my heart racing as I looked at the Castle. The last time I had been here, I had gotten trapped in the Labyrinth.

And I saw a figure standing at the gates to the castle, waiting for us. I stood a little straighter as I saw him. 'The battle is over,' I told myself. 'There's no reason to be afraid.'

“So, you've finally arrived,” Vain said. I saw the others tense up as they saw him.

“So it is you,” Caesar finally spoke up. “You're the man we rescued all those weeks ago.”

“Yes. And it's about time that I properly introduced myself. My name is Vain- Valentine Peers. Your group has also known me as Thanatos.”

“So you're the creepy skull?” Zeus asked. Vain nodded.

I figured they'd have a lot to say to him, but to my surprise.. They started bombarding Vain with questions! “How long ago did you come to this time?” “Do you have time powers too?” “How did you get so high up in the Ministry so quickly?” He fielded the questions with ease, though I could see a little strain in his expression.

And then the ground beneath us started to rumble, and we were suddenly painfully aware of why we were there. “Perhaps it would be better to continue with this questions session after we stop Felix,” Vain said coolly. “Do what you will with me then.”

Now all we had to do was find Felix. That was.. easier said than done.

 

“Man, these castle halls seem endless..”

It felt like we had been walking for an eternity, and every hallway looked the same. 

“Liz?” I froze as I heard the familiar voice; instinctively, I reached out and took Hugo's hand, but he raised his other hand. I took out my own wand as the figure came into view. I'd know him anywhere.

_Rembrandt._ We had once trusted him, followed him blindly, but he had been using us.

“Don't take one step closer,” Hugo growled.

“Felix has sent me to get you,” he explained. “He's been waiting for you for a while; he said he wanted you to see the revival of the Dragonkin.”

“This is.. unusual,” Vain commented. “However.. it may be prudent to meet with him. At the very least, it appears that sneaking up on them would be impossible."

“You know your way around this place?” I asked at last. “I figured only Felix or Lacan would know how to get there.”

“I may not know this place as well as they do, but I am still the Consort of the Dragonkin,” he said, raising his chin. “Come with me.” With no other choice, I followed after them, and Hugo went with me.

“In all the timelines we've lived through,” Vain whispered, “I can't think of a single one where Willem betrays Felix. And now it appears that we know why.”

“Rembrandt might just be leading us straight to Felix- or straight into a trap.” I squeezed Hugo's hand and continued forward.

 

We walked mostly in silence, but, to my surprise, it was Willem who spoke first.

“Vain.. Hugo, I've been told that you two are from the future. You've seen what happens when the Dragonkin awaken?” Vain nodded. “And what will happen when Lacan awakens?”

Vain was quiet for a long moment. “It will not go like you believe. The moment in a timeline when Lacan awakens is when a timeline is lost. The world will be engulfed in flames.”

“I see.” Willem looked ahead. “Lacan was dear to me like he was my own brother. But.. I don't wish for this time to fall to darkness. Isn't there.. any way?” Silence, and he didn't ask again.

 

My heart was in my throat as I stepped into the room. ' _I've been here before..'_ The last time we had been in this place, there had only been a coffin in the room- and Felix was sealed inside. Now, Felix knelt before another coffin.

“It's a shame that you had to see this place like this,” he said without turning. “This castle was once filled with beauty and splendor, a shining beacon of light. I would've asked for a better place for my brother's awakening, but.. ah well, none of it matters now. The only thing that matters is that Lacan will soon be by my side once more.” As he stepped towards the coffin, I saw three objects shining in his hands-

“Felix, please don't do this!” I cried out. “The ending you seek will never come! If Lacan wakes up, the world will only fall to destruction!”

“Then let it fall.” He turned to face me. His eyes were as cold as ice. “You have no idea of the truth of the war, did you? We tried to live in peace with you, but you turned around and stabbed us in the back. Our homes, our families, our very lives were taken from us.” His gaze fixed on Hugo and Vain. “The two of you are Harkin's blood. I can still remember the day that he was sealed away, that he fell. Would you like me to tell you that story?”

“N-no-” Vain shook his head; I'd never seen him look so pale.

“We never wanted to fight in that war,” Rembrandt spoke up, sadness in his eyes. “We gave technology to humans, but they only took more and more. Felix and Lacan were sealed inside this castle, and I.. I was taken prisoner.”

“I was locked away for a thousand years within my own mind, with nothing but grief and hatred to fuel me. Why should I give any pity to the world that turned its back on me and my brethren?”

I felt sick to my stomach. I had heard about the war against the Dragonkins, but not this. Nobody had ever spoken of this. “Felix-”

“I have no more time for humans. Willem,” he turned back to the coffin, “take care of them.” He stepped forward, his horns starting to glow.

“The time for talk is over,” Vain growled, and I drew my own wand.

 

The battle felt helpless. No matter what attacks we threw their way, it rolled off of them like water. If Willem wavered for even a moment, Felix was there to fill in. And any place where an attack came close to Felix, Willem would cover him just as quick.

' _I can't let things end here!'_ I thought. My magic might've been weaker than it had ever been before, but I couldn't just let things end here. I needed my powers. Dodging another attack aimed my way, I closed my eyes, remembering all of the hours of training I had done with Hugo- willing time to stop!

When I opened my eyes, everything was still; Felix and Lacan were frozen in place, side by side. But Hugo's familiar golden eyes turned to face me, and my chest felt a bit lighter. “I'm surprised you're awake.”

He smiled at me. “Our powers are linked now, Liz,” he reminded me, taking my hand.

“That's good, cause I'm not sure what I would have done without you..” I said, feeling suddenly bashful. But there was no time for that. “I don't know how long this is going to last. We need to act now; what do we do from here?”

“Think now, who do we need to unfreeze?” I wracked my brain, and my gaze fell back to the coffin. I remembered someone examining the seal-

I ran to Caesar's side, tapping his shoulder, and he immediately unfroze. “What's going-”

I pointed to the coffin. “Lacan's seal!” His eyes widened. “You knew Felix's seal right away, is there anything you can tell us about Lacan's?”

“I can try.” He ran to the coffin, kneeling at the edge. My heart was in my throat as I looked back to the others. How long would this last..? But Caesar only shook his head. “This is..”

“What?”

“I don't recognize this; this is unlike any seal I've ever seen before,” he said, cursing under his breath. “It's completely unlike Felix's seal, I can't-”

And my blood ran cold as I heard a familiar laughter. “You could search all the world for information on Lacan's seal, but you'd find nothing. I am the only one who could unseal him- as I am the one who sealed him away.”

“You did?” I yelled without thinking. “How could you-”

“I had no other options. I knew the pain that awaited us when the humans got their hands on us; I would not let that fate befall Lacan. It may have taken a little time to regain my power,”- as he spoke, the stones glowed in his hands- “but at last, I have regained enough to awaken him.”

' _I have to freeze them again-'_ But, as I raised my hand, my power wavered once more, and I fell.

“I gotcha!” Luckily, Vain caught me.

“I'll take care of this.” This time, Hugo raised his hand, but Felix reacted first. A wave of his hand sent Hugo into the wall.

“Hugo!”

It all happened so fast- and, suddenly, there was a body floating in the air, surrounded by light. There was a brilliant flash of light-

And I saw him as he fell, a young man dressed in white. The resemblance was striking, the same soft features, the same golden blonde hair. But most striking was that he looked no older than I.

Felix caught Lacan in his arms, and his eyes fluttered open. Sea green eyes. “W-where am I?”

“It's all right,” he said gently. “We're all right now, you're back again-”

“Felix, the castle is under attack! The Twilight Unit was captured, and-” He looked around wildly, seeing a world that was no longer there. Was he reliving the moment that the castle fell?

' _To him, that was only a moment ago..'_

“Lacan, little one, it's all right!” Felix said, holding onto his shoulders to steady him. “The war is over. See? Willem is here.” Lacan looked up as Willem knelt by his side, as gentle as could be.

“Willem..” A small smile slipped on his face. “You're safe. I.. I thought I'd never see you again.” My heart ached as I watched them. For the first time, Felix was smiling, tears in his eyes. ' _They look like a family..'_

“What of the others?” Lacan asked, turning to Willem. “I heard that your unit fell with you. Are they all right?” And their expressions fell. “..Willem?”

“Lacan, they're gone.” Felix squeezed his hand. “You and I and Willem are the last of the Dragonkin. But- but we're going to bring them back! Now that the three of us are together again-” I saw a million emotions race across Lacan's face as the pieces fell into place. Sadness, denial, shock- and then anger. “Now that we're together again, everything's going to be all right!”

_“Let go of me.”_ Felix recoiled as though he had been burnt. As Lacan got to his feet, his gaze fell on me, on our group, scattered about the room. “Humans.” I saw hatred in his eyes- the same hatred I had seen in Felix's, and I wanted to run, but I had no strength left in my body.

Summoning up the courage, I called out, “Lacan-”

“Shut up,” he snarled. “Why have you come here? If you're the one who's taken the rest of my people, are you here to finish us as well?” Dark magic crackled at his fingertips. “I must warn you, I won't go quietly.”

“No! W-we didn't want to fight!” I cried out. “We're not the ones who hurt you! Those people are long gone!” He tilted his head. “The war with the Dragonkins was thousands of years ago!” What could I say to convince him? What could I say to stop him? “People are not the same. The world has changed.”

“Lacan, don't worry about them,” Felix said, coming up to him. “There's nothing these humans can do to you anymore. They can barely even _move,_ let alone fight. Our priority should be-”

“Shut up! Why did you bring me back?” Lacan snarled, all of his attention on Felix now. “Why did you bring me back to the ruins of our castle, of our people? You should have let me sleep.”

“But this is not the end!” Felix answered. “Look at them! Among them are two Dragonkins, Harkin's sons.” Lacan's attention fell to Vain, to Hugo, sensing their magic. “They come from the future- a world where the Dragonkin have been _restored._ We haven't lost yet, Lacan, there's still time-”

And Lacan started to laugh. “This is the last of the Dragonkin? The three of us- and two half-born traitors? If this is what became of our people.. I'd have rather died with them in this castle, fighting by their side! But you..” He whirled back on Felix. “You sealed me away!”

“Y-you have no idea what they would have done to you if they caught you- what they did to me or to Willem! You would've been-”

“Have you considered that I would've been able to stop them?” Lacan said with a laugh, and chills ran down my spine. “I would've been able to do what you clearly weren't. If I had your power- no,” he stopped himself, “ _when_ I have your power.. I would be able to finish this.”

“L-lacan!?”

Vain quickly covered my eyes, but I couldn't block out the scream. And when I pulled his hand away, my heart wrenched at the sight. Lacan stood proud, dark magic- Felix's magic- whirling around him. And Felix..

Felix had fallen, clutching his chest, as white as a ghost. And he weakly reached out a hand to whoever could hear. “ _Help me-”_

 

 

 

 


	12. Lacan

_Was this the end?_ Our group had been almost wiped out, with none of us having the strength to stand, and now Lacan stood before us. Even Felix had fallen-

“Now let's see.. Would it be better to start with the humans- or with the traitors?” My heart was in my throat as his gaze fell on me, on Vain.

“Get away from them!” Lacan dodged a spray of black lightning, and all of his attention turned to the source. Hugo was slowly getting to his feet, black lightning at his fingertips.

“Looks like we're starting with you then.”

I had no time to think. If I didn't do something right then, Hugo would be a goner! Summoning all my strength, I willed time to stop-

Hugo stopped, Lacan's power a hairsbreadth from him. The whole room went still. But there was no time to celebrate. My power wouldn't last long, so I had to act now.

' _All of us are out of magic,'_ I thought, wracking my brain. And that's when it occurred to me, there was still one person left who had any power- now, I just had to hope that he would be on our side.

Every bone in my body aching, I went to Willem's side, unfreezing him. And just as I unfroze him, he looked around wildly. “Willem,” I begged, “you have to help us! Lacan is going to kill us all, and you're the only one with power right now!”

He couldn't meet my eyes; his gaze fell on Felix. And then.. he turned back to me with resolve. “What do you need to me to do?”

“A barrier. We need barriers. If you can shield us, then Hugo and I can get everyone together-” I wasn't sure what to do from there, but it was a start, for now. Hugo nodded as he came to my side.

He nodded. “I can do that.”

“What are we going to do once we've got everybody?” Hugo asked. “The others can barely move!”

I wracked my brain. “There was a power.. I remember when we fought you, I was able to turn back time for Lucious and Caesar. I was able to heal their wounds. Do you know how to do that?”

“I think so,” Hugo said. “Vain showed me how, but I'm still not steady..” Unfortunately, neither was I. My gaze turned to Vain, still frozen. I ran to him, unfreezing him.

“Vain, can you show me how to turn back time on someone's wounds? Between Hugo and I, if we can get the others and bring them back here, we might stand a chance.”

Vain nodded. “I taught Hugo everything he knows, I can teach you.” With Hugo's help, I brought him back over to by Willem's feet.

If I used any more of my power now, I might end up collapsing. “As soon as time unfreezes,” I warned, “raise the barrier!”

The instant I unfroze time, Lacan's magic started heading for us, bouncing off the wall. Lacan spun, seeing Hugo had moved. “You!” He raised his hand again, but Rembrandt moved quickly, shielding us. I ran. My mind was racing, going through the list of who we needed to grab first.

“Hugo, help me grab Zeus!” I cried. Nimbly weaving through the battlefield, dodging Lacan's attacks, I ran to Zeus's side. Slipping an arm around Zeus's shoulder, Hugo and I helped carry him back to where Rembrandt was.

My hands were shaking as I wavered over Zeus, but Vain's voice brought me back. Following his instructions, I turned back Zeus's time, healing his injuries. He came back to awareness slowly. “What's going on?”

“Zeus, I healed your injuries. I need you to go get Klaus and bring him back here, all right?” He snapped to awareness, bolting to his feet and running to Klaus's side. Catching on, Lacan shot an attack after him, but Rembrandt quickly raised a barrier first.

“Willem, what are you doing?!” Lacan shrieked. “Have you turned traitorous as well?”

“You were like a brother to me, Lacan,” Willem snarled, “but I won't let you hurt anyone else!” This time, as Zeus brought back Klaus, Hugo healed him. “I need you two to get the others,” I said, and they nodded. Half a heartbeat later, Zeus dragged Lucious back to us, and Klaus dragged over Alfonse. Zeus lingered as I got to work healing Lucious and Hugo healed Alfonse.

“Is he going to be all right?” he asked. I heard something in his voice, but now was not the time.

“I'll make sure of it,” I said. He nodded, running over to go grab Hiro. Klaus ran to grab Caesar.

Scarcely had Caesar woken up then Alfonse pressed his lips to his. “I'm so glad you're all right.” I tore my attention off of them, focusing on what next.

Every time Lacan shot an attack, Willem was there to block it. “I don't know how much longer I can do this,” he said. “My power is strong, but.. I can only hold out so long.”

“Thank you for all your help, Willem,” I said. The others gathered around us, under Willem's barrier, looking at me expectantly. And I followed Willem's gaze again.

' _There's still one more person we need to save!'_

“Zeus, Klaus,” I whispered to them, “I need you to grab Felix and bring him back here.” They looked at me in confusion, but there was no time to argue. “Grab him!”

“Okay, Liz, I trust you.” Zeus immediately took off, grabbing Felix around the waist and bringing him back to the shade of Willem's barrier. Willem's eyes softened as he saw him.

I knelt by his side, but Vain shook his head. “This.. I don't think we can turn back his wounds. His magic's almost completely gone. If I knew how to restore magic-” His voice caught, but he didn't need to finish that sentence. Felix wasn't even conscious, but..

“I can give him some of my magic, but we need to get him away from here,” Willem said, and I looked up at the others.

“It's just a chance, but.. if there's someone who can help us stop Lacan, it would be him,” I said. The others nodded.

“If I had to guess, he'll be coming after Hugo and I,” Vain said. “But he can't catch both of us. If we split off into two groups, he can..” I nodded. “Hugo and Liz, you need to get Felix away from here. I'll draw Lacan's attention.”

“No, absolutely not,” Hugo snarled. “You saw what he did to Felix, and your magic is probably the weakest out of all of us-”

“Which is why what happens to me doesn't matter!” Vain snapped, and then he smiled. “I'll be fine. You go.” My attention turned back to Lacan as the lines were drawn, each picking a group.

“I think I have enough magic to teleport us,” I said, and Hugo went silent before he nodded.

Suddenly, a blast of magic grazed us. “I don't know how much longer I can hold onto this barrier,” Willem said. “We need to go now.”

Zeus got to his feet, turning to Lacan. “Hey! Pipsqueak! Over here!” My heart broke as the others started to call out taunts, and Lacan's attention turned to them.

“Pesky humans,” he snarled. “I'll crush all of you!”

I grabbed Hugo's hand, summoning all my strength once more. I knew I didn't have enough strength to get us out of this castle, but.. _'Anywhere's better than here!'_

When I opened my eyes, I found that we were on the steps of a room, and, when I looked up, I saw three thrones before us.

Willem knelt at Felix's side, and his horns began to glow, his magic going to Felix. After a moment, Felix's eyes slowly opened. His hands immediately went to his chest. “W-what happened? And why.. why do I feel so weak? The last thing I remember, Lacan-”

“Felix, Lacan attacked you,” I told him. “He stole your magic, and he'll kill us all unless we stop him.” But he turned away in frustration. “ _Felix-”_

_“_ Everything I've done has come crumbling down around me,” he snarled. “No matter what I do, fate seems determined to tear everything from me. I gave up everything for my brother my entire life, and here we are. He stole my magic, and my people are _gone._ At this point, perhaps it would be better to let it all burn.”

“Is this really how you want things to end?!” I snarled without thinking, and his gaze fell on me. Before he could open his mouth, I went on, “The humans hurt you, and I can't imagine the pain and grief that you must have felt, but there are still traces of your people left! There's Hugo and Vain- and you and Willem!” His gaze went up to Willem, who only offered him a strained smile. “Even if it's only us.. We could still- we could still have something! Even if it's just pieces of what was. But Lacan would take everything away! Everything would be completely gone!”

“I've seen it for myself,” Hugo said. “A future completely torn.. The earth so scorched, not even the flowers can grow. But the future that Lacan has set in motion- it may just be worse.”

“Is that what you want?”

“I-I want to survive,” Willem spoke up, and Felix's eyes went wide. “I've been alone in this world for thousands of years, but I've seen what the humans have done. Even for a lone Dragonkin, they showed me kindness- and few kinder than the people at the academy.” His voice wavered, but his eyes met Felix's without hesitation. “They made me believe that I could find a place here among the humans. I don't want to see that all go away.” Willem knelt at Felix's side, gently taking his face in his hands. “Felix, even if it is just us left.. I don't want to disappear. I want to live in this world. I want to live here with _you.”_

“Tsk.” Felix closed his eyes, and then he looked at me. “Even if I wanted to.. I can't fight him. Everything I did, I did for him. For so long, he was my.. He was the center of my world. I did everything, I even gave him half of my magic-”

“Half of your magic?” I looked over at Hugo, and I remembered the night before. (Goodness, had it only been one night?) I remembered what Vain had done.

“I assumed that you had figured that out much by now,” he sneered, but then he sighed. “There was.. one night when I thought that I was going to lose him. I was desperate, and I was willing to do anything to keep him with me. So, I.. I asked Willem to take my magic.” Willem flinched at the memory but stayed silent. “He tore out my magic, and he split it in half. He gave half of it to Lacan- and returned the other half to me. After that, we never had a problem again.”

“That's.. that's just like what happened with me and Hugo,” I said. “I gave up my magic, and Vain split it in half..”

“I figured as much. Even now, I can feel the power rolling off of you two,” he said quietly. I looked to Hugo.

“Felix,” Hugo said, “nobody knows better than me the sacrifices of a brother. Vain gave up everything to take care of me. But.. I also know how constraining that can be. Vain thought that he knew what was best for me, and we nearly died because of it. If things had gone a little bit differently.. We would've lost everything.”

“Your brother made stupid mistakes then,” Felix sneered.

“My brother can make stupid mistakes, that's true, but at least he didn't _seal me away.”_ Felix shut his mouth. “The both of you needed to let us make our own choices- and our own mistakes. And if that leads us here..” He looked away. “You have to let him go, Felix.”

“I think I know what we need to do, how we can stop Lacan once and for all. If you are willing to help.” I met Felix's eyes earnestly, and he just looked in silence.

 

“Vain, in here!”

Vain darted into the throne room, and I heard footsteps after him. A minute later, Lacan came running after him. Scarcely had Vain made it into the throne room than he fell to his knees.

“Pathetic. This is what has become of the Dragonkin in the future? This magicless welp?” Hugo glared at Lacan's laughter. “I might as well do the future a favor and end it all here.” His power crackled in his palm, but Hugo blocked his strike.

“Stay away from my brother!” he snarled. I helped Vain to his feet, slinging his arm around me.

“Are you all right?” I asked quietly.

“Please tell me you have a plan..”

“Oh? You're not hiding behind ol' Willem anymore?” Lacan looked around the throne room. “I suppose he turned tail and ran with my brother.”

“That doesn't matter,” Hugo answered, black lightning in his palm. “Your battle is with me.”

“Gladly. I'll deal with them later,” Lacan said as he charged up another spell. “Now, as for you-”

“You can't hope to defeat us, Lacan, not by yourself,” I said as I withdrew my wand. “Hugo and I are of the same heart; we only grow stronger when we're together!” Lacan rolled his eyes. “You've cast off everyone who cares about you as soon as they lose their worth.”

“Shut up already,” Lacan said. “Take this!” As his blast of power came towards us, Hugo and I joined hands.

“Now!” I could feel our magic coming together, and it came out in a single blast. There was a brilliant flash of light-

And, when it faded, Lacan still stood, not a scratch on him. He just laughed. “Is that the best you got?” he asked. “I thought you were trying to defeat me, but I've had sparring matches more intensive than that.”

I smiled. “We didn't need to defeat you. Only distract you.”

Lacan turned- and Felix struck.

“I gave everything for you- and you took it all away!”

Lacan fell to his knees as Felix ripped away his magic, stealing it back once more. The dark magic whirled around Felix, and vanished. And when Felix stepped back, I saw a pair of stones in his hands.

“I sealed my magic away in Nightmare and Daydream long ago. To think that I'd ever willing do that again..”

“Those stupid stones again.. Do you think putting your magic in there can keep it from me?”

Felix smiled and opened his hands, letting the stones fall- and shatter on the ground below.

Lacan fell to his knees. “What have you done?! You'd destroy your own magic to stop me?!”

“I have enough magic to do what I need to do,” Felix said, and Hugo stepped forward.

“It's time to finish this-” But Felix raised his hand as he knelt before his brother.

“No. This is my duty to my brother.” Hugo shook his head, but Vain weakly reached out and wordlessly stopped him.

“What are you going to do? Seal me away again?” Felix just shook his head, and Lacan went pale. “No-”

Felix reached up and pulled down his hood, revealing two horns, as white as snow. And as he turned to Lacan, his horns started to glow. My heart wrenched at the sight, but I couldn't let myself look away.

“Felix- Felix- _big brother_ , please- Felix, I'm scared-”

“Hush, Lacan. This'll be painless. Just go to sleep for me, all right? It'll be just like going to sleep..” And with those words, Lacan passed from this world.

Felix remained where he sat, even when his body began to shake with sobs.

 


	13. Epilogue

Flowers. There were flowers at our feet, where Lacan had once been.

It felt like an eternity that we stayed in the throne room, and the only sound we could hear was Felix's cries.

At last, a familiar voice broke the silence. “Is it safe to come in now?” I looked up to see Zeus poking his head into the throne room. Unsure of what to say, I simply nodded, and our friends began to pour into the room.

“That was a bit tricky, but I believe that I've located everyone-” Willem stepped into the room, but all of the words died on his lips as he saw the throne room, as he saw Felix. Immediately, he knelt at Felix's side, holding him in his arms. “Oh, my dear..”

Finally, Felix went silent, and he looked up at us. “I want to get out of this place,” he said at last. “Anywhere would be better than here. I just..”

Vain stepped forward. “That may be for the best. Now that the battle is over, I need the two of you to come with me to the Ministry.”

 

In the end, I sent the others back to the school, while the rest of us headed to the Ministry. Hugo would scarcely leave Vain's side, and I didn't want to leave Hugo's.

My gaze drifted back to Felix and Willem, sitting quietly on the train. I couldn't imagine what was going through their minds. Despite everything, my heart broke for them.

“What's going to happen to them?” I asked.

“It's.. going to be tough,” Vain said with a sigh. “These two have been the most wanted for weeks, not to mention trying to destroy the world. But.. I think we might be able to make a case for them. They were victims too, after all.”

 

We finally made it to the ministry doors, and guards came to meet us there.

Klaus turned to me and Hugo. “This is as far as you two can go. Wait here.” I nodded. The guards stopped Vain as he stepped up to the doors.

“Where do you think you're going? Strangers aren't allowed in the Ministry.”

Vain froze and then stood a little straighter. “I'm Thanatos, here to bring Felix and Willem Rembrandt. Let me through.” The guards started to laugh, but their gazes fell on Klaus. They took one look at his grim expression and went pale.

“Uh, right this way, sirs..”

I sat with Hugo outside, unsure of what to expect. All I could do was hope.

 

It felt like an eternity later that Vain and Klaus came out of the room. Vain sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. “Stubborn ol bats. Did that feel as long to you two as it did to us?”

“What did they say?” I demanded, and Klaus and Vain shared a look.

“After a long discussion,” Klaus said, “the Ministry has decided their sentence is.. nothing.”

“They're going to be free?”

“It took a lot of convincing, but we managed to pull it off,” Klaus went on. “Vincent and Glenn helped vouch for Willem. And their own testaments on the war with the Dragonkin helped; it turned out that not a lot of the people in the Ministry knew the full atrocities committed against the Dragonkin, especially now that- now that there's very little chance that the Dragonkin could come back..”

“It helped that Felix is essentially powerless now,” Vain added. “Not much he could do to us even if he wanted to.” Felix rolled his eyes as he stepped out of the meeting room.

“I'm pretty sure that I could still kick your butt,” he said, but then he sighed. “But.. I suppose I should thank you after all. Eternal life in the Ministry's cells sounds.. unpleasant.” Willem shivered in agreement.

“So.. what are you two going to do from here?” I asked nervously. “You're free, but..”

Willem and Felix shared a look, and Felix looked nervous. “I already told Vain this, but- I realize that the Dragonkin are gone, and nothing I can do is going to bring them,” he stopped, “or Lacan back. But if Willem is willing to give this world another chance, after everything they put him through, then I suppose I am too.” As he spoke, I saw tears in Willem's eyes. Felix raised his chin. “The Dragonkin live through us, after all.”

“There's just one problem,” Willem said. “We.. have no idea where to go from here. I've travelled this world for a thousand years, and the academy was the closest thing to a home I had since the fall.”

“After everything.. I can't go back to the Castle in the Sky,” Felix said.

Hugo and I exchanged a look, and I could already tell that he was thinking the same thing I was. With a smile, I turned back to them. “I think we have a place for you.”

 

“I can't believe that the old lizards are going to be our neighbors!”

Felix sighed. “Don't call me that,” he said.

“I'm afraid you're going to have to get used to Zeus,” Willem said with a laugh.

We were all gathering around in Hugo and I's house. Once again, we did leave out some bits, but we ended up basically recounting the story of everything that had happened in the battle. To be honest, it was mainly up to the four of us, cause Vain.. well..

“I can't believe you! Why would you even think of doing something so stupid?!”

“I didn't have a choice, Mischa!” Vain protested. “And everything worked out in the end, didn't it? We're all safe now.”

..Vain was currently being lectured by Mischa.

“You have no idea how worried I was, with everyone running off to the Castle- and I was stuck here, waiting for you, not knowing what would happen-”

Vain scooped up Mischa in his arms, cuddling her. “It would've been too dangerous for you. But we're all safe now, I promise you.”

“You idiot..”

I smiled as I watched them, and then I turned back to the rest of the group. I could already see the others teasing Felix, and he was joining in with a few lines of his own. Willem was just laughing along.

' _I think they're going to fit in just fine. It almost feels like things are back to the way they were before.'_ For the first time in a long time, I felt like I could breathe again. ' _I feel like.. things are gonna be just fine.'_

 

Unfortunately, a return to normal came with unforeseen consequences. I sighed as I stepped back into the house.

' _That was quite a lot to explain to Schuyler. A month long study session.. That's gonna be fun.'_

And I noticed that Hugo and Vain were talking; my heart clenched as I saw they looked a little.. distant. “Guys? Is everything all right?”

Vain sighed. “You're just in time. We just got off call with the higher ups. They weren't happy about us taking such a long 'break',” he said. “Lady Athena lectured me worse than Mischa did..”

I should have seen this coming, but I hadn't stopped to think about it. ' _This timeline has been saved. If the future has changed, then-'_

Hugo reached out and took my hand. “Liz,” he said, and I looked away. I couldn't bear to hear the words. “Liz- they said we can stay in this timeline.”

My heart skipped a beat. “What?”

He smiled. “They said we can stay in this timeline forever.”

“But how?! I thought-” I looked between him and Vain, who just nodded, looking away bashfully.

“We've served the resistance faithfully for a long time, and so they allowed the three of us to retire in peace,” he explained. “It helps that since I've lost my time magic- and Hugo has only half of his- we're not much use of them to them anymore.”

“And somebody's gotta stay here to keep an eye on Willem and Felix,” Hugo said. “So.. we're here to stay.” Hugo turned to me with a smile. “If you'll have us, of course.”

“Yes, yes, of course!”

 

How strange it was to go back to teaching, after everything that had happened. Of course, I could see the questions in their eyes- it wasn't every day one of their teachers was wanted by the Ministry after all- but most of them didn't say a word. The Night Class did have a few questions though, and one student more than most..

“Miss?” I looked up to see a young woman there, and I was honestly surprised that she had spoken. As far as I had seen, she was usually pretty quiet and withdrawn. I didn't even know her name. “Is it true that that you got to see the home of the Dragonkin?”

“I did. It was.. quite the experience.”

“That's so cool!” She was beaming ear to ear, and then her gaze dropped to the floor. “I always thought the Dragonkin were really interesting. I always wanted to ask Headmaster Rembrandt about them, but I never got a chance.”

I couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. “Perhaps I can share the story sometimes,” I said. There was something familiar about her, but I couldn't quite place it. “I'm sorry, what was your name again?” I can only imagine what I must've looked like as she said her name.

 

“Liz? You've been awfully quiet today. Is everything all right?” I looked up at Hugo's voice; I must've been out of it, but.. I must've been debating what to say for hours.

' _Should I tell Hugo? Surely he'd want to know..'_

“It's just- I met this girl in the Night Class today, and I'm not sure what to think.”

“Hard to imagine any one could startle you,” he said with a bit of humor. “What's this- what was her name again?”

I sighed. Might as well spit it out. “Lily.”

“Yeah, what's this Lily person-” Hugo stopped, going pale, and he turned back to me. “..Liz?”

I nodded. “I know what you're thinking.”

“A-are you certain that this woman is..”

“Silver hair, red eyes,” I said. “And when I looked at her- the resemblance was unmistakable.” Hugo had gone quiet, and I wasn't sure what to think. If I was in his shoes, what would I do?

' _If I had the chance..'_

“Hugo,” I finally said, “if you want me to arrange a meeting for you, I can. It would be easy.”

“I-I think I need to go speak to Vain.”

 

“Is it true?” Vain finally asked me. Hugo was still sitting quietly on the couch. “She's a Night Class student?”

“Yes. I told Hugo, but I could easily arrange a meeting-”

Vain just shook his head. “Not for me, at least. I'll leave her be. I already said my goodbyes long ago.” My heart ached for him, but he left before I could say anything more.

I turned back to Hugo. “What do you think?”

He was quiet for a long moment, and then he sighed. “Her life.. her life is going to be so different. She's going to get to live in a world without the threat of the end looming over her, not fearing for her life. She's going to marry-” His voice caught, and his gaze fell to his lap, “she's going to have other kids.. She doesn't need to have us coming into her life.”

I wasn't sure what to say. “I guess it would be a little weird to see yourself as a baby.”

“No.” He shook his head with a bitter smile. “Harkin.. My father.. He was one of the Dragonkins that was sealed away. And in this timeline, it's going to stay that way. She may choose to have children one day, but.. they're not going to be me or Vain.”

“Hugo, you're not-”

“I'm safe,” he told me quickly. “The timeline I was born into- nothing is going to change that. But in this timeline..” I squeezed Hugo's hand.

“Are you sure?”

“I'm sure.” I couldn't say a word, because I knew my answer might've been the same.

 

It was hard to believe that it had been five years since those days. It was hard to believe the world had ever been in such trouble, when we were living in such peace.

“Oh, she's so adorable!”

Although he was trying valiantly to hide it, even Felix let out, “Be careful!” He quickly took his daughter from my arms. “The first Dragonkin born in this age, you have to be careful.”

“And here I thought I'd be the worried one,” Willem said gently. “It did take us a lot to get here, but..” He smiled down at his daughter. “Our little Angel was worth it.”

My heart warmed as I watched the two of them. ' _I'm glad they're able to live in peace like this.'_

 

I was still giggling as Hugo and I walked home, hand in hand. “Isn't it wonderful that everyone's so happy?” Hugo nodded. “Who thought the two of them would be the first to-” All the words left me as a wave of dizziness hit me.

“Liz?” Hugo asked, but I shook my head. “Are you-” Before I could answer, everything went black, and I heard Hugo calling out my name.

 

When I came back to consciousness, I was at Alfonse's clinic; when I looked up, Hugo was at my side. “Thank goodness, you're awake..”

“Hugo was worried sick when you collapsed,” Vain said. “Ran all the way here, demanding-”

“Oh, hush, you were nearly _crying,_ Vain! Especially when you found out-”

“Found out what?”

“All right, everyone, calm down,” Alfonse said smoothly. His smile put me at ease, but I still felt odd.. “Congratulations!”

“Huh?” I looked between the three of them. “What do you mean..?” Hugo smiled gently, and Alfonse turned to Vain.

“Let's give these two a moment alone, shall we?” Vain begrudgingly left, and I turned back to Hugo.

“Hugo, what's going on?”

“Liz.. We're going to have a baby.”

We were going to be parents? My mind went racing, but I couldn't stop smiling as I pulled him close. “Hugo!”

 

As I lay in bed that night, my heart full of joy, my thoughts turned to names. We still didn't know anything about our baby, but..

“If we have a daughter, I know what to name her.” Of course. What better name for the daughter of the goddess and the gatherer? “Valentine.”

 


End file.
